Echo-planar MR imaging of normal and ischemic myocardium with gadodiamide injection

Rapid echo-planar (EP) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was used to monitor the first pass of a bolus of gadodiamide injection in the hearts of normal rats and rats subjected to left coronary artery occlusion. Inversion-recovery EP imaging combined with a low dose (0.05 mmol/kg) of the contrast agent caused signal enhancement of normal myocardium from 19% +/- 4 to 63% +/- 5 (mean +/- 1 standard error of the mean) of fully relaxed intensity at the peak of the bolus but only slight increase in signal intensity of the ischemic zone. Thus, ischemic myocardium was demarcated as a hypointense zone (cold spot) during passage of the bolus. A higher dose (0.20 mmol/kg) of the same agent caused signal loss of normal myocardium from 100% to 39% +/- 7 of control at the peak of the bolus on gradient-recalled echo EP images, and ischemic myocardium was visualized as a hyperintense zone (hot spot). With either method of monitoring bolus transit, myocardial signal intensity recovered slowly following the peak bolus effect, consistent with substantial extraction of the agent during the first pass through the heart. Use of gadodiamide injection can allow discrimination between ischemic and nonischemic myocardium on both T1- and susceptibility-weighted EP images during bolus transit.