Cardiovascular screening with parallel imaging techniques and a whole-body MR imager

The purpose of this study was to integrate parallel acquisition techniques into a comprehensive whole-body cardiovascular screening protocol to image all relevant organ systems without compromising spatial or temporal resolution. The study was approved by the institutional review board, and oral and written informed consent was obtained from each subject. Fifty subjects underwent whole-body magnetic resonance imaging that included imaging of heart, blood vessels, brain, lungs, and abdominal organs with a standard eight-channel imager. Image quality and pathologic findings were evaluated by two readers. The same protocol was then implemented with a new 32-channel whole-body imager. Depiction of 1476 (73.2%) of 2016 vessel segments was rated as good to excellent, and that of 1744 (86.5%), as without venous overlay. Interobserver agreement was good in evaluation of image quality and excellent in evaluation of pathologic findings. Acquisition time was reduced significantly (P < .05) with use of the whole-body imager and parallel acquisition techniques, which provided high-quality fast cardiovascular imaging.