Vessel tracking: Prospective adjustment of section-selective MR angiographic locations for improved coronary artery visualization over the cardiac cycle

To follow the motion of the coronary artery in magnetic resonance angiograp hy, the authors evaluated vessel tracking, a method for prospective adjustm ent of the section location as a function of the delay from the cardiac tri gger. In 10 volunteers and four patients, this method allowed the vessel to be maintained in the plane of acquisition throughout the cardiac cycle. Wi th a single-phase multisection sequence, vessel-tracking acquisitions had a n efficiency of 0.68 +/- 0.04 for both the right and left coronary arteries compared with 0.19 +/- 0.03 for a non-vessel-tracking acquisition (P <.001 ).