Motivation: Interest in mid-field cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has grown and may offer increased accessibility and novel applications. However, demonstrations of clinical use of 0.55T CMR exams are still lacking. Goal(s): To demonstrate clinical feasibility, we present early use of 0.55T CMR for characterization of patients with known/suspected cardiomyopathy. Approach: Patients with known/suspected cardiomyopathies underwent 0.55T scans, using cine imaging, parametric mapping, and late gadolinium enhancement and compared to clinical 1.5T exams and clinical information. Results: In 23 patients, 0.55T CMR accurately differentiated etiologies of cardiomyopathy (amyloidosis, ischemic, non-ischemic, recent inflammatory event, no cardiomyopathy). Clinical interpretation was consistent with 1.5T results and clinical data. Impact: Cardiomyopathies comprise >20% of clinical referrals to CMR, and phenotyping uses multiple pulse sequences pre- and post-contrast. This patient population is high priority for assessment by 0.55T. Our results indicate accurate clinical interpretation of 0.55T CMR for patients with cardiomyopathies.
Bandettini et al. (Tue,) studied this question.