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Single breath-hold pulmonary magnetic resonance angiography. Optimization and comparison of three imaging strategies
G D Rubin1, R J Herfkens, N J Pelc
1Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, California.
Rationale And Objectives:
Ultrafast gradient-recalled-echo techniques for obtaining high-quality pulmonary magnetic resonance angiograms within a single breath-hold were optimized.
Methods:
Fourteen subjects were imaged with both the body coil and a phased-array surface coil, using three gradient-recalled-echo pulse sequences: 1) two-dimensional sequential; 2) two-dimensional interleaved; and 3) volumetric acquisitions. Image quality was assessed with varied flip angle, receiver bandwidth, slice thickness/number, and matrix size. Cardiac compensation diminished ghost artifacts in the interleaved sequence. Individual sagittal sections and maximum intensity projections were reviewed.
Results:
Pulmonary magnetic resonance angiograms acquired with volumetric and two-dimensional interleaved gradient-recalled-echo pulse sequences benefit greatest from intravenous gadolinium and result in greater pulmonary arterial visualization than traditional time-of-flight techniques. Phased-array coils result in improved vessel detection.
Conclusions:
High-quality breath-held pulmonary magnetic resonance angiography can be obtained with an intravenous contrast-enhanced gradient-recalled-echo acquisition; however, image quality is dependent on the pulse sequence.