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Role of free-breathing motion-corrected late gadolinium enhancement technique for image quality assessment and LGE
Yunfei Yu1, Yinyin Chen1, Shihai Zhao1
1Department of Radiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University and Shanghai Institute of Medical Imaging, Shanghai, China; Department of Medical Imaging, Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Objective:
To compare the image quality and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) quantification between free-breathing motion-corrected and conventional breath-hold LGE method in a variety of cardiovascular diseases.
Materials And Methods:
149 consecutive patients underwent contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance examination employing both free-breathing motion-corrected LGE and conventional breath-hold LGE method. Scan time, contrast-to-noise ratio, overall image quality score and LGE mass were measured and analyzed statistically.
Results:
Free-breathing motion-corrected LGE method had a shorter scan time and higher overall image quality score in comparison with conventional breath-hold LGE method (p < 0.001). Univariate/multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that breath-holding difficulty, high heart rate and arrhythmia could be predictive factors possibly for an inferior image quality score (p < 0.05 for all). The contrast-to-noise ratios of free-breathing motion-corrected LGE images were higher than those of conventional breath-hold LGE images (p < 0.001). In the cases with subepicardial and/or transmural myocardial enhancement, the measured LGE masses were larger on free-breathing motion-corrected LGE images in comparison with those on conventional breath-hold LGE images (p < 0.05).
Conclusion:
Free-breathing motion-corrected LGE could be a better choice for patients who need contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI and have one or more of the risk factors for an inferior image quality score, including breath-holding difficulty, high heart rate and arrhythmia. However, an overestimation of LGE mass on free-breathing motion-corrected LGE image should be taken into consideration when LGE pattern involves subepicardial and/or transmural myocardium.
