Coronary arteries

Coronary angiography (CA) is presently considered the gold standard for the assessment of the coronary arteries. However, the presence of ionizing rad iation, its invasiveness and the small associated risk of morbidity prompte d long ago the development,of more patient-friendly imaging modalities. A c ompromising technique, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has been regarded as the major modality in the coming decade. although still in its infancy q ualitatively, its flexibility and non-invasiveness opens the door for a com prehensive evaluation of the heart and the coronary arteries in one single sitting with high anatomical definition and excellent soft tissue contrast capabilities, double-oblique tomographic sections and the possibility to qu antify an innumerable number of cardiovascular physiological parameters. Nu merous ideas have been assessed, comprising breath-hold and free-breathing two-dimensional and three-dimensional measurements. New ongoing trials intr avascular contrast agents may provide for all these techniques the long-awa ited essential boost for reliable magnetic resonance coronary angiography ( MRCA). Introduction of parallel MRI acquisition techniques, such as simulta neous acquisition of spatial harmonics (SMASH) and sensitivity encoding (SE NSE) may provide the speed enhancement required to shorten imaging time for all techniques explored to date.