MRI OF CORONARY-ARTERIES - 2D BREATH-HOLD VS 3D RESPIRATORY-GATED ACQUISITION

Objective: Respiratory motion degrades MR images of the coronary arter ies. The purpose of this study was to assess and compare two methods o f reducing the effects of respiration in coronary artery MRI. Single-s lice 2D imaging with breath-holding and a respiratory-gated 3D techniq ue were used. Materials and Methods: A comparison was made in 10 norma l subjects between a 2D multiple breath-holding approach and a 3D tech nique with and without retrospective respiratory gating in imaging the coronary arteries. Results: Respiratory gating improved the image qua lity in 76% of the 3D images. Both the 2D and the 3D approaches were c apable of visualizing the proximal parts of the coronary arteries, wit h comparable vessel length and diameter. The image quality was somewha t better for images obtained by breath-holding in 83% of the vessels, probably due to less blurring by remnant respiratory motion and higher inflow contrast. Conclusion: The 2D breath-holding approach reveals a better image quality. However, the 3D respiratory-gated acquisition i s less operator dependent, faster, and less strenuous for patients.