3-DIMENSIONAL MRI OF CORONARY-ARTERIES USING AN INTRAVASCULAR CONTRAST AGENT

To assess the effectiveness of an intravascular contrast agent, MS-325 , for enhancing the vascular signal in coronary MR angiograms, six min ipigs were studied using a three-dimensional, gradient-echo sequence w ith retrospective respiratory gating. To suppress the myocardial signa l, preparatory RF pulses were applied before data acquisition. With th e administration of MS-325, the blood signal-to-noise ratio increased by 97-276%, depending on the region of interest in which the blood sig nal was measured and the precontrast imaging sequence structures. The blood/myocardium contrast-to-noise ratio also significantly increased. High-resolution images (0.58 x 0.58 x 1 mm(3)) obtained from postmort em pig hearts demonstrated the potential delineation of coronary arter ies with MS-325. In conclusion, this study supports further evaluation of the utility of MS-325 in improving coronary MR angiography in huma ns.