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Coronary artery imaging using contrast‐enhanced 3D segmented EPI
Author(s) -
Deshpande Vibhas S.,
Wielopolski Piotr A.,
Shea Steven M.,
Carr James,
Zheng Jie,
Li Debiao
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.1095
Subject(s) - contrast (vision) , medicine , contrast to noise ratio , coronary arteries , artery , contrast enhancement , radiology , nuclear medicine , biomedical engineering , magnetic resonance imaging , cardiology , image quality , artificial intelligence , computer science , image (mathematics)
The purpose of the work was to evaluate the effectiveness of extracellular contrast media in improving MR coronary angiography using breath‐hold segmented echo‐planar imaging (SEPI). Two protocols were designed to optimize the inversion recovery‐prepared contrast‐enhanced SEPI method. In 15 healthy volunteers, significant improvements in signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR), contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR), vessel sharpness, and length of visualization were observed post‐contrast. The method with two targeted scans to cover the left and right arteries, respectively, following separate 20‐mL contrast injections, was found to yield thinner slices and longer right coronary artery (RCA) visualization than a single scan following a 40‐mL contrast injection without compromising SNR and CNR. In conclusion, extracellular contrast media substantially improves the delineation of coronary arteries with SEPI. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2001;13:676–681. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.