Magnetic resonance angiography: methods and its applications to the coronary arteries

The non-invasive visualisation of the coronary arteries with magnetic resonance imaging would be a highly useful tool for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease, with a potential to partly replace current invasive imaging modalities, and would be a step towards more patient comfort. While magnetic resonance (MR) angiography of most larger blood vessels can nowadays be performed routinely, current techniques are inadequate to image the coronary arteries. This paper provides a short overview of the principal techniques for MR angiography. The combination of a multiple-slice MR angiography technique with a simple and easily performed breathhold scheme is described, which allows to image the main branches of the coronary artery tree within one scan of 9 to 12 min duration. For display the coronary vessels are segmented semi-automatically and reconstructed as 3D-objects. Results of volunteer scans and examinations of patients with known coronary artery disease show the feasibility of the approach. However, due to the need for a breathhold scheme, patient cooperation is required.