Radiology, Vol 190, 353-362, Copyright © 1994 by Radiological Society of North America
Is 300 msec too long for cardiac MR imaging? Feasibility study demonstrating changes in left ventricular cross-sectional area with use of single-shot turboFLASH imaging
T Matsuda, H Yamada, M Kida and S Sasayama
Department of Internal Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan.
PURPOSE: To assess the feasibility of demonstrating cardiac motion with
313.6-msec single-shot turbo-fast low-angle shot magnetic resonance
imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Effects of motion on single-shot images
were evaluated with a phantom moving at known velocity. Single-shot images
were obtained in eight healthy volunteers and four cardiac patients and
compared with conventional cine images. RESULTS: The moving phantom was
visualized at the location where zero phase-encoded data were sampled. When
the velocity was within the physiologic range of left ventricular wall
motion (< 11 cm/sec), the full width at half maximum of the object on a
64 x 64-matrix image with a 4.9-msec repetition time was comparable with
that of a stationary phantom. The left ventricular cross-sectional area
determined with single-shot imaging showed good correlation with results of
conventional cine imaging (r = .96) in healthy volunteers. CONCLUSION:
Single-shot imaging can be used for simple and quick assessment of cardiac
function.
