Key result
New 3D coronary MRA magnetization preparation improves blood-to-myocardium contrast-to-noise ratio ~46% vs previous scheme.
Why the study?
A new magnetization preparation scheme for navigator SSFP 3D coronary MR angiography was investigated to minimize delay between preparation and image echoes and improve imaging quality.
Does a new magnetization preparation scheme improve image quality and contrast-to-noise ratio in navigator SSFP 3D coronary MRA compared to the previous scheme?
Does a new magnetization preparation scheme improve image quality and contrast-to-noise ratio in navigator SSFP 3D coronary MRA compared to the previous scheme?
Effect estimate: 46% improvement
p-value: p=<0.001
A new magnetization preparation scheme for 3D coronary MRA improves blood-to-myocardium contrast and overall image quality by executing navigator and fat saturation pulses after dummy RFs.
May facilitate better coronary MRA visualization in practice; leaves open effects on diagnostic accuracy.
The purpose of this work was to investigate a new magnetization preparation scheme for navigator steady-state free precession (SSFP) 3D coronary MR angiography (MRA) that executes the navigator and fat saturation pulses in steady state after the dummy RFs in order to minimize the delay between the magnetization preparation and the image echoes. Compared to the previous preparation scheme that executes the navigator and fat saturation pulses before the dummy RFs, the new scheme was found to provide more effective motion suppression, significantly improved blood-to-myocardium contrast-to-noise ratio (46%, P < 0.001) at slightly but insignificantly decreased blood signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) (2%, P = 0.73), significantly reduced fat SNR (32%, P < 0.001), and better overall image quality (P = 0.05; Wilcoxon paired sample signed rank test).
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Nguyen et al. (2004) studied Coronary MR angiography. New magnetization preparation scheme executing navigator and fat saturation pulses after dummy RFs vs. Previous preparation scheme executing pulses before dummy RFs was evaluated on Blood-to-myocardium contrast-to-noise ratio (46% improvement, p=<0.001). A new magnetization preparation scheme for 3D coronary MRA significantly improved blood-to-myocardium contrast-to-noise ratio by 46% (P<0.001) compared to the previous scheme.
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