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Estimation of perfusion and arterial transit time in myocardium using free‐breathing myocardial arterial spin labeling with navigator‐echo
Author(s) -
Wang Danny J. J.,
Bi Xiaoming,
Avants Brian B.,
Meng Tongbai,
Zuehlsdorff Sven,
Detre John A.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.22630
Subject(s) - perfusion , blood flow , medicine , intraclass correlation , breathing , electrocardiography , cardiology , coronary artery disease , nuclear medicine , myocardial perfusion imaging , arterial spin labeling , anesthesia , clinical psychology , psychometrics
Abstract Arterial spin labeling (ASL) provides noninvasive measurement of tissue blood flow, but sensitivity to motion has limited its application to imaging of myocardial blood flow. Although different cardiac phases can be synchronized using electrocardiography triggering, breath holding is generally required to minimize effects of respiratory motion during ASL scanning, which may be challenging in clinical populations. Here a free‐breathing myocardial ASL technique with the potential for reliable clinical application is presented, by combining ASL with a navigator‐gated, electrocardiography‐triggered TrueFISP readout sequence. Dynamic myocardial perfusion signals were measured at multiple delay times that allowed simultaneous fitting of myocardial blood flow and arterial transit time. With the assist of a nonrigid motion correction program, the estimated mean myocardial blood flow was 1.00 ± 0.55 mL/g/min with a mean transit time of ∼400 msec. The intraclass correlation coefficient of repeated scans was 0.89 with a mean within subject coefficient of variation of 22%. Perfusion response during mild to moderate stress was further measured. The capability for noninvasive, free‐breathing assessment of myocardial blood flow using ASL may offer an alternative approach to first‐pass perfusion MRI for clinical evaluation of patients with coronary artery disease. Magn Reson Med, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.