SINGLE BREATH-HOLD PULMONARY MAGNETIC-RESONANCE ANGIOGRAPHY - OPTIMIZATION AND COMPARISON OF 3 IMAGING STRATEGIES

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. Ultrafast gradient-recalled-echo techniques for obtaining high-quality pulmonary magnetic resonance angiograms wit hin a single breath-hold were optimized. METHODS. Fourteen subjects we re imaged with both the body coil and a phased-array surface coil, usi ng three gradient-recalled-echo pulse sequences: 1) two-dimensional se quential; 2) two-dimensional interleaved; and 3) volumetric acquisitio ns. Image quality was assessed with varied flip angle, receiver bandwi dth, slice thickness/number, and matrix size. Cardiac compensation dim inished ghost artifacts in the interleaved sequence. Individual sagitt al sections and maximum intensity projections were reviewed. RESULTS. Pulmonary magnetic resonance angiograms acquired with volumetric and t wo-dimensional interleaved gradient-recalled-echo pulse sequences bene fit greatest from intravenous gadolinium and result in greater pulmona ry arterial visualization than traditional time-of-flight techniques. Phased-array coils result in improved vessel detection. CONCLUSIONS. H igh-quality breath-held pulmonary magnetic resonance angiography can b e obtained with an intravenous contrast-enhanced gradient-recalled-ech o acquisition; however, image quality is dependent on the pulse sequen ce.