Free‐breathing 3D late gadolinium enhancement imaging of the left ventricle using a stack of spirals at 3T

Abstract

PurposeTo develop navigator-gated free-breathing 3D spiral late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) imaging of the left ventricle at 3T and compare it with conventional breath-hold 2D Cartesian imaging.Materials and MethodsEquivalent slices from 3D spiral and multislice 2D Cartesian acquisitions were compared in 15 subjects in terms of image quality (1, nondiagnostic to 5, excellent), sharpness (1–3), and presence of artifacts (0–2). Blood signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), blood/myocardium contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and quantitative sharpness were also compared.ResultsAll 3D spiral scans were completed faster than an equivalent 2D Cartesian short-axis stack (85 vs. 230 sec, P < 0.001). Image quality was significantly higher for 2D Cartesian images than 3D spiral images (3.7 ± 0.87 vs. 3.4 ± 1.05, P = 0.03) but not for mid or apical slices specifically. There were no significant differences in qualitative and quantitative sharpness (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.91 ± 0.67 vs. 1.93 ± 0.69, P = 0.83 and 95% CI: 0.41 ± 0.07 vs. 0.40 ± 0.09, P = 0.25, respectively), artifact scores (95% CI: 0.16 ± 0.37 vs. 0.40 ± 0.58, P = 0.16), SNR (95% CI: 121.5 ± 55.3 vs. 136.4 ± 77.9, P = 0.13), and CNR (95% CI: 101.6 ± 48.4 vs. 102.7 ± 61.8, P = 0.98). Similar enhancement ratios (0.65 vs. 0.62) and volumes (13.8 vs. 14.1cm3) were measured from scar regions of three patients.ConclusioNavigator-gated 3D spiral LGE imaging can be performed in significantly and substantially shorter acquisition durations, although with some reduced image quality, than multiple breath-hold 2D Cartesian imaging while providing higher resolution and contiguous coverage..

Assessment of stable coronary artery disease by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging: Current and emerging techniques

“…Typically a stack of short axis slices, a 4-chamber view and VLA are acquired. Alternatively, 3D LGE CMR imaging enables whole heart quantification of scar burden to be acquired in a shorter time period (although with a reduction in image quality), which may provide an alternative for patients that struggle to breath-hold[ 76 , 77 ].…”

Fast 3D ultrashort echo‐time spiral projection imaging using golden‐angle: A flexible protocol for in vivo mouse imaging at high magnetic field

“…Among the existing techniques, the stack‐of‐spiral (SOS) approach allowed fast space encoding by stacking spiral planes in the slice direction. This method has been applied to free‐breathing late gadolinium‐enhanced experiments and to sodium imaging at high magnetic field . The main advantages of the SOS approach are the reduced scan times and the ability to acquire anisotropic field of view (FOV).…”

Free breathing three-dimensional late gadolinium enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance using outer volume suppressed projection navigators

“…Three‐dimensional (3D) LGE is a promising alternative to 2D multislice LGE, as its contiguous 3D spatial coverage guarantees accurate quantification of the burden of infarct and allows for flexible postanalysis through arbitrary display views while minimizing the complexity of scan localization. Although breath‐hold 3D methods have been investigated with moderate slice thickness (comparable to those of 2D multislice protocols) , free‐breathing scans with respiratory motion compensation would be necessary for high spatial resolution in all three dimensions . Respiratory gating based on diaphragm navigator is the most established approach, but typically involves long scan time because of suboptimal gating efficiency .…”