Diagnostic Accuracy of 1.5-T Unenhanced Whole-Heart Coronary MR Angiography Performed with 32-Channel Cardiac Coils: Initial Single-Center Experience

Abstract

http://radiology.rsna.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1148/radiol.11101323/-/DC1.

Cardiac MR Assessment of Coronary Arteries

“…Again, a higher parallel imaging factor with the use of 32-channels coil could actually narrow the acquisition window of the MRA study in addition to its previously mentioned value in reducing the whole scan time. In the study by Nagata et al, [20] the use of 32-channel cardiac coils with a parallel imaging factor of 4 achieved a mean acquisition window of 84±57 ms for diastolic acquisition and 48±18 ms for systolic acquisition compared to 152±67 ms and 98±26 ms in a previous study using 5-channel cardiac coils. The success rate, image quality, and overall scan time were all substantially improved [24].…”

“…This negative predictive value is similar to that of the CORE-64 CTA multicenter study [6], indicating that whole heart coronary MRA can effectively be used to rule out CAD. In the study by Nagata et al, [20] the combined use of 32-channel cardiac coils, parallel imaging factor of 4, and abdominal belt technique achieved 86% sensitivity, 93% specificity, 86% positive predictive value, 93% negative predictive value and 91% diagnostic accuracy in almost half of the imaging time of whole heart coronary MRA using 5-channel coils [24]. Higher magnetic field strength at 3 T MRI and contrast material administration achieve higher SNR of coronary MRA when a gradient echo technique is used.…”

“…The use of multi-channel cardiac coils with higher parallel imaging factor can be a partial solution for this issue, as the short scanning time can reduce undesirable breathing irregularities. By applying this strategy, Nagata et al [20] significantly reduced the coronary MRA scanning time from 12.3±4.2 min with 5-channel coils to 6.3±2.2 min using 32-channel coils. Consequently, the reduced imaging time increased the MRA acquisition success rate (100%) and maintained image quality.…”

“…Moreover, the whole heart SSFP sequence allows for visualization of the distal coronary artery segments that were not easily assessed using the previous targeted double oblique technique. Using this method, we have demonstrated that more than 90% of distal coronary segments exhibited good to excellent image quality [20,24,26].…”

“…Ishida et al [21] reported that this technique significantly improved scan efficiency and image quality in both UK and Japanese patients. When used in combination with 32-channel coils, Nagata et al [20] reported 86% sensitivity and 93% specificity of 1.5 T whole heart coronary MRA for detecting significant CAD on a vessel-based analysis.…”