Effectiveness of ECG-gated magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosing cardiovascular diseases

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a noninvasive method which can discriminate between flowing blood and vascular walls, and is expected to contribute to the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases. Since the data acquisition by conventional MRI is too long for precise cardiac imaging, the ECG-gated method is mandatory in evaluating cardiac function and producing cardiac images of high quality. To evaluate the effectiveness of ECG-gated MRI, left ventricular wall motion and ejection fraction by MRI were compared with those obtained by radionuclide technique. Two types of MR imagers were used: one with a resistive magnet (0.15 Tesla) for 12 patients, and the other with a superconductive magnet (0.35 Tesla) for eight patients. MRI imaged cardiac muscle and vascular walls without the need for any contrast media or radionuclides. The superconductive apparatus provided better quality images than did the resistive one. Comparing MRI with radionuclide technique regarding left ventricular wall motion, resistive and superconductive MRI data correlated satisfactorily with those of radionuclide technique, except in the inferior wall, which was better evaluated by radionuclide technique. Left ventricular ejection fraction obtained by MRI was moderately lower than those obtained by radionuclide technique, though the correlation was good [r = 0.84 (resistive unit) and r = 0.85 (superconductive unit)]. In addition to three-dimensional morphological information, ECG-gated MRI provides information nearly comparable to that of radionuclide technique in the evaluation of left ventricular function and wall motion. Therefore, we regard gated MRI as effective in evaluating various aspects of cardiovascular diseases.