Modified electrocardiograph-triggered black-blood turbo spin-echo technique to improve T1-weighting in contrast-enhanced MRI of atherosclerotic carotid arteries

作者：Boussel Loic^*; Herigault Gwenael; Sigovan Monica; Loffroy Romaric; Canet Soulas Emmanuelle; Douek Philippe Charles

来源：Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 2008, 28(2): 533-537.

DOI：10.1002/jmri.21104

• high resolution MRI
• carotid atherosclerotic plaque
• gadolinium
• MR sequence
• EKG-triggering

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of a modified electrocardiograph (EKG)-triggered black-blood T1W (T1W) spin-echo sequence in improving contrast on post-gadolinium high-resolution carotid plaque imaging by implementing heart-rate-independent contrast preparation.
Materials and Methods: We used a standard EKG-triggered double inversion-recovery (DIR) turbo spin-echo (TSE) sequence modified with the addition of an extra saturation (90 degrees) radio frequency (RF) pulse placed immediately after the DIR module, shortening the repetition time to a fixed value of 400 msec, A total of 10 patients with atherosclerotic disease were included in the study. Postinjection intraplaque contrast measurements were performed on each patient for the standard and the modified sequence.
Results: Post-gadolinium-injection intraplaque contrast was 31.7 +/- 12.8% with the standard T1W sequence (nT1-TSE), and 45.3 +/- 17.2% with the modified T1W sequence (mT1-TSE), showing a significant contrast enhancement of 13.6% (P < 0.001) without significant image quality modification.
Conclusion: The addition of a RF pulse to the standard EKG-triggered T1W TSE sequence increased intraplaque contrast without increasing sequence acquisition time. Furthermore, it appeared to be a robust technique, easy to implement on clinical scanners.

• 出版日期2008-8