Cardiac phase contrast gradient echo MRI: Characterization of abnormal left ventricular wall motion in patients with ischemic heart disease

Purpose: in our patient study, we examined the clinical usefulness of phase contrast velocity mapping for the detection and characterization of locali zed abnormalities of left ventricular motion. Materials and Methods: Velocity encoding is based on the fact that motion i n the presence of a magnetic field gradient causes a change of the phase of the MRI signal that is proportional to the velocity of tissue motion. Left ventricular motion was characterized by parameters describing rotation and contraction/dilatation, respectively. We examined 34 patients with localiz ed abnormalities of left ventricular motion due to ischemic heart disease. Results: Three patients could not be sufficiently evaluated due to technica l problems including varying positions of the heart during successive breat hhold periods. In 27 of the remaining 31 patients, MRI could demonstrate ab normal radial velocities that corresponded fully or partly with perfusion d eficits in single photon emission computed tomography or positron emission tomography. The abnormalities were most pronounced in early diastole. Rotat ional velocities did not show any regional changes. Conclusion: Our study showed that our technique is suitable for the detecti on and characterization of localized abnormalities of left ventricular moti on in patients with ischemic heart disease.