FAST AND ULTRAFAST MR-IMAGING OF THE HEAR T

Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is capable of providing satisfactory morphological images of the heart and the surrounding str uctures. It has further evolved into a well accepted modality for func tional cardiac studies such as flow quantification and volumetry. MRI has, however, been hampered by long image acquisition times. This comb ined with its non-realtime nature and the limited spatial resolution h as made it difficult to extend MRT to the study of small cardiac struc tures. Recent technical improvements have made breath-held or realtime MRI feasible and thus laid the foundations for further applications i n the field of cardiovascular imaging, notably MR coronary angiography , imaging of cardiac valve leaflets, as well as first-pass perfusion s tudies. Moreover ultrafast MR techniques may eventually replace conven tional data acquisition strategies and thus drastically increase patie nt throughput by shortening acquisition time. This article provides an overview of the technical advances in MRI and their application to th e cardiovascular system and discusses possibilities of combined ultraf ast and interventional strategies.