Magnetic resonance imaging of myocardial perfusion in single-vessel coronary artery disease: Implications for transmural assessment of myocardial perfusion
Jt. Keijer et al., Magnetic resonance imaging of myocardial perfusion in single-vessel coronary artery disease: Implications for transmural assessment of myocardial perfusion, J CARD M RE, 2(3), 2000, pp. 189-200
The purpose of the study was to investigate the potential of magnetic reson
ance imaging (MRI) to assess transmural differences in myocardial perfusion
. Contrast-enhanced MRI was performed at rest and during hyperemia in a dog
model and in 22 patients with single-vessel coronary artery disease. From
MR signal intensity-versus-time curves, three perfusion parameters were der
ived: maximum myocardial contrast enhancement (MCE), slope, and inverse mea
n transit time (1/MTT). In dogs, MCE correlated well (r = 0.87 p < 0.00001)
with microsphere-assessed myocardial blood flow. In the patients, the sube
ndocardial MCE decreased during hyperemia (0.89 +/- 0.18 vs. 0.74 +/- 015,
p < 0.003) and was lower in subendocardium than in subepicardium (0.74 +/-
0.15 vs. 0.84 +/- 021, p < 0.02). Parameters slope and 1/MTT paralleled MCE
. Contrast-enhanced MRI reflects the transmural redistribution of myocardia
l perfusion during hyperemia. Perfusion abnormalities can be identified mos
t distinctly in subendocardial myocardium.