J Korean Med Assoc.  2010 Dec;53(12):1059-1064. 10.5124/jkma.2010.53.12.1059.

High field strength magnetic resonance imaging of cardiovascular diseases

• Kim YJ

• KMID: 2064721
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2010.53.12.1059

Abstract

Given the continuous advances in the hardware and software of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cardiac MRI has come to be a routine imaging modality in clinical settings for evaluating both cardiac function and anatomy in various cardiovascular diseases. Recently, 3 tesla (T) MRI has become available and has demonstrated advantages over 1.5T in a broad range of clinical applications although some technical challenges still remain. This review will focus on the potential advantages and limitations of 3T cardiac MRI and its current clinical applications.

Keyword

Magnetic resonance imaging; High field strength; Cardiovascular diseases; 3 tesla

MeSH Terms

Cardiovascular Diseases
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Magnetics
Magnets

Figure

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  Figure 1 Short axis cine images acquired at 3 tesla magnetic resonance imaging. (A) Balanced steady-state free-precession (bSSFP) cine image shows dark-band artifact (arrows) caused by B0 inhomogeneity, especially in the lateral and inferior wall of the left ventricle at the heart-lung interface. (B) Spoiled gradient echo sequence image obtained from the same patient in (A) demonstrates no such dark-band artifact though contrast between myocardium and ventricular cavity is somewhat low compared to bSSFP cine image. (C) bSSFP cine image obtained from another patient with local shimming and 32 channel cardiac coil shows excellent image quality without dark-band artifact.

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  Figure 2 First-pass perfusion image acquired at 3 tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A 74 year-old man with typical angina underwent stress perfusion MRI. First-pass perfusion MRI during adenosine stress (A) shows subendocardial perfusion defect at the lateral and inferior wall of the left ventricle while perfusion image at resting state (B) demonstrates no perfusion defect. Coronary angiography revealed critical stensosis at the middle segment of the left circumflex arery.

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  Figure 3 Myocardial tagging images acquired at 1.5 tesla (T) (A) and 3T (B). Due to the prolonged T1 relaxation time of the myocardium, fading of the myocardial tags is reduced at 3T as evident in the end diastolic image.

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  Figure 4 Whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance angiography acquired from a healthy volunteer at 3 tesla with T2 preparation and navigator respiratory gating after gadolinium contrast agent injection.

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