Three dimensional first-pass myocardial perfusion imaging at 3T: feasibility study.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Medical Physics

Background:

• Accurate assessment of myocardial perfusion deficits is crucial for predicting clinical cardiac outcomes in ischemic heart disease.
• Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is a key imaging modality for evaluating myocardial perfusion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the accuracy of 3D and 2D multi-slice myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) in determining the size of perfusion defects.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of 3D MPI in healthy volunteers at 3 Tesla.

Main Methods:

• A heart phantom was used to compare 3D and 2D MPI accuracy in estimating defect volume fractions.
• 3D first-pass contrast-enhanced MPI was performed in volunteers using sensitivity encoding for accelerated acquisition.
• Myocardial time-intensity-curve upslope and peak signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)/contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated.

Main Results:

• 3D MPI showed lower errors in estimating defect volume fractions compared to 2D MPI in phantom studies.
• Accelerated 3D MPI in volunteers yielded excellent image quality with complete left ventricular coverage.
• High peak SNR/CNR values were achieved in the volunteers' myocardial tissue.

Conclusions:

• 3D MPI demonstrated superior accuracy over 2D MPI in quantifying myocardial perfusion defects.
• Highly accelerated 3D MPI at 3 Tesla is feasible and provides high-quality imaging for comprehensive left ventricular assessment.