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Updated: Apr 26, 2026
Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 7 Tesla
Published on: January 6, 2019
High-field MR imaging in pediatric congenital heart disease: initial results
Kim-Lien Nguyen1, Sarah N Khan, John M Moriarty
1Division of Cardiology, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Insights
High-resolution contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CEMRA) and steady-state free precession (SSFP) cine provide excellent image quality in pediatric congenital heart disease (CHD) at 3.0 T. While artifacts are more prevalent at 3.0 T, higher signal-to-noise ratios offer diagnostic advantages.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Pediatric Radiology
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Background:
- Comprehensive assessment of pediatric congenital heart disease (CHD) requires evaluation of both vascular and cardiac anatomy.
- Diagnostic quality contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CEMRA) and cardiac cine imaging are crucial for CHD assessment.
- Evaluating imaging techniques at higher magnetic field strengths is essential for improving diagnostic capabilities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the reliability of high-resolution (HR) CEMRA and steady-state free precession (SSFP) cine at 3.0 T in pediatric patients with CHD.
- To compare the image quality of HR-CEMRA and SSFP cine at 3.0 T versus 1.5 T.
- To assess the diagnostic performance of advanced MRI techniques in neonates with CHD.
Main Methods:
- Twenty-eight pediatric patients with suspected or known CHD underwent MRI at 3.0 T.
- SSFP cine and HR-CEMRA were performed, with images scored for quality and artifacts.
- Findings were compared to a cohort of 28 CHD patients evaluated at 1.5 T.
Main Results:
- Excellent or good image quality was achieved in 96% of vascular segments with HR-CEMRA and 91% of cine series with SSFP at 3.0 T.
- Signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio were significantly higher at 3.0 T compared to 1.5 T (P < 0.001).
- Off-resonance artifacts were more prevalent at 3.0 T, particularly dark band artifacts on SSFP cine, requiring frequency-tuning in one-third of exams.
Conclusions:
- 3.0 T MRI provides superior signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios for CEMRA and SSFP cine in pediatric CHD.
- While SSFP cine artifacts are more common at 3.0 T, HR-CEMRA demonstrates high reliability in defining extracardiac vascular anatomy in neonates.
- Higher field strength MRI offers improved diagnostic potential for pediatric cardiovascular imaging, despite the need for artifact management.
Background:
Comprehensive assessment of pediatric congenital heart disease (CHD) at any field strength mandates evaluation of both vascular and dynamic cardiac anatomy for which diagnostic quality contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CEMRA) and cardiac cine are crucial.
Objective:
To determine whether high-resolution (HR) CEMRA and steady-state free precession (SSFP) cine can be performed reliably at 3.0 T in children with CHD and to compare the image quality to similar techniques performed at 1.5 T.
Materials And Methods:
Twenty-eight patients with a median age of 5 months and average weight 9.0 ± 7.8 kg with suspected or known CHD were evaluated at 3.0 T. SSFP cine (n = 86 series) and HR-CEMRA (n = 414 named vascular segments) were performed and images were scored for image quality and artifacts. The findings were compared to those of 28 patients with CHD of similar weight who were evaluated at 1.5 T.
Results:
Overall image quality on HR-CEMRA was rated as excellent or good in 96% (397/414) of vascular segments at 3.0 T (k = 0.49) and in 94% (349/371) of vascular segments at 1.5 T (k = 0.36). Overall image quality of SSFP was rated excellent or good in 91% (78/86) of cine series at 3.0 T (k = 0.55) and in 81% (87/108) at 1.5 T (k = 0.47). Off-resonance artifact was common at both field strengths, varied over the cardiac cycle and was more prevalent at 3.0 T. At 3.0 T, off-resonance dark band artifact on SSFP cine was absent in 3% (3/86), mild in 69% (59/86), moderate in 27% (23/86) and severe in 1% (1/86) of images; at 1.5 T, dark band artifact was absent in 16% (17/108), mild in 69% (75/108), moderate in 12% (13/108) and severe in 3% (3/108) of cine images. The signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio of both SSFP cine and HR-CEMRA images were significantly higher at 3.0 T than at 1.5 T (P < 0.001).
Conclusion:
Signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio of high-resolution contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography and SSFP cine were higher at 3.0 T than at 1.5 T. Artifacts on SSFP cine were cardiac phase specific and more prevalent at 3.0 T such that frequency-tuning was required in one-third of exams. In neonates, high spatial resolution CEMRA was highly reliable in defining extracardiac vascular anatomy.
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