Magnetic resonance coronary angiography in patients with ischemic heart disease - Analysis of coronary arterial blood flow velocity pattern

Only a few reports evaluating coronary arterial blood flow velocity pattern s using magnetic resonance (MR) coronary angiography have appeared to date. This study reports an evaluation of coronary arterial blood flow velocity patterns in patients with ischemic heart disease and in healthy subjects us ing MR coronary angiography. The subjects consisted of 20 patients with isc he mic heart disease (IHD group) and 20 normal healthy subjects (N group). Using the fCARD PC method, EGG-gated MR coronary angiography was performed using an anteroposterior opposing phased array coil. Regions of interest we re placed on bilateral coronary arteries to measure coronary arterial blood flow velocity patterns. The IHD group was divided into two subgroups, base d on the presence (MI group) or absence (AP group) of infarcted myocardium using(99m) Tc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) myocardial scintigraphy. Ave rage diastolic peak velocity (ADPV) was lower in the IHD group than in the N group. In addition, the diastolic/ systolic velocity ratio (DSVR) was sig nificantly lower in the MI group. Moreover, in the AP group, both the ADPV and DSVR values were significantly increased in those who had undergone per cutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty postoperatively. Different from the Doppler guidewire method, MR coronary angiography facilitates noninvas ive evaluation of coronary arterial blood flow velocity. Therefore, these r esults indicate that MR coronary angiography represents a potentially usefu l technique for diagnosing lesions of coronary arteries and evaluating thei r functions. This noninvasive method can be expected to replace the invasiv e Doppler guidewire method in the near future with development of MR corona ry angiography technology.