CARDIAC MR-IMAGING - PRINCIPLES AND TECHNIQUES

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is becoming an important tool in diagn osing cardiovascular disease. Many technical advances have contributed to the improved capability of MR imaging in this arena. In this artic le, we review the technical concepts and recent advances for a variety of cardiovascular applications, including evaluation of congenital he art and great vessel disease, global cardiac function using cine acqui sitions and automated ventricular volume segmentation, valvular heart disease, myocardial wall motion detection with magnetization tagging, two-dimensional and three-dimensional coronary artery imaging, and myo cardial perfusion. Sequence diagrams are shown and important technical issues are discussed. Example images are shown to demonstrate the cur rent status of research and future potential. Most results shown here are high-resolution scans acquired with new gradient coil systems, inc luding coronary artery imaging using an in-plane resolution of 350 mu m X 600 mu m. This review serves as an introduction to the discussion of various clinical applications of cardiovascular MR imaging provided in this issue.