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Nitrate‐induced coronary vasodilation by stress‐magnetic resonance imaging: A novel noninvasive test of coronary vasomotion
Author(s) -
Pepe Alessia,
Lombardi Massimo,
Takacs Imola,
Positano Vincenzo,
Panzarella Gaetano,
Picano Eugenio
Publication year - 2004
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.20136
Subject(s) - medicine , cardiology , vasomotion , vasodilation , coronary artery disease , artery , magnetic resonance imaging , coronary arteries , coronary vasodilator , right coronary artery , radiology , coronary angiography , myocardial infarction
Purpose To evaluate the feasibility of assessing coronary vasodilation following exogenous nitrates, using magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). The assessment of coronary response to exogenous nitrovasodilators may have a diagnostic and prognostic impact in patients with coronary artery disease. To date, stress imaging of coronary artery vasomotion has been confined to the catheterization laboratory. MRA is emerging as a noninvasive tool for coronary artery imaging. Materials and Methods Coronary MRA was performed in 20 healthy volunteers (12 males, age = 33 ± 8). We used spiral spoiled gradient echo (SSGE) sequences for imaging of coronary artery lumen. After the baseline short‐axis view of the coronary artery was obtained, sublingual nitroglycerin (NTG) (0.3 mg) was administered. In all subjects, short‐axis views of the coronary artery were acquired repetitively (8–10 times) from 1 up to 10 minutes after NTG administration. Measurements were obtained by two independent investigators. Results Interpretable short‐axis view of left anterior descending artery (LAD) was obtained in 15 subjects (75%); in the remaining five subjects the right coronary artery (RCA) was examined. The interobserver variability was 15%, and the intraobserver variability 4%. The NTG‐induced maximal vasodilation was 43 ± 22%. The vasodilator response over time after NTG was maximal on average at 279 ± 112 seconds, but with substantial heterogeneity. Conclusion Entity and time course of nitrate‐induced coronary vasodilation in the left anterior descending and/or RCA can be assessed using MRA with high feasibility and reproducibility. Coronary MRA has potential for dynamic imaging of coronary vasomotion. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2004;20:390–394. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.