First-pass nuclear magnetic resonance imaging studies using gadolinium-DTPA in patients with coronary artery disease

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging has been shown to accurately portray cardiac anatomy and function. To investigate the potential of NMR imaging for the assessment of coronary stenosis in patients with chest pain, ultrafast NMR imaging in conjunction with a T1 (longitudinal relaxation time) contrast agent was performed in 17 patients with chest pain who had undergone cardiac catheterization. These included 12 patients with significant coronary artery stenoses and 4 who underwent repeat NMR study after myocardial revascularization. Cardiac images at rest were obtained during rapid intravenous injection of gadolinium-DTPA (0.04 mM/kg). Electrocardiographic-gated images were acquired over 380 ms, with repetitive images obtained every 3 to 4 s. After contrast injection, there was pronounced signal enhancement in the right ventricular cavity, followed by enhancement in the left ventricular cavity and myocardium. Regional myocardium perfused by a diseased vessel demonstrated a lower peak signal intensity (p = 0.001) and lower rate of signal increase (p = 0.001) than did myocardium perfused by coronary arteries without stenosis. Repeat NMR study after revascularization showed an increase in peak signal intensity (p less than 0.002). These results demonstrate the clinical potential of dynamic gadolinium-DTPA-enhanced NMR imaging for the assessment of coronary artery disease in patients with chest pain. In combination with anatomic and functional NMR imaging, this technique has the potential to provide a comprehensive noninvasive cardiac evaluation of patients with suspected coronary artery disease.