Abstract
Objective: Contemporary free-breathing non contrast enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance angiography (CMRA) was qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated to ascertain the reproducibility of the method for coronary artery luminal dimension measurements. Subjects and Methods: Twenty-two healthy volunteers (mean age 32 ± 7 years, 12 males) without coronary artery disease were imaged at 2 centers (1 each in Europe and North America) using navigator-gated and corrected SSFP CMRA on a commercial whole body 1.5T System. Repeat images of right (RCA, n = 21), left anterior descending (LAD, n = 14) and left circumflex (LCX, n = 14) coronary arteries were obtained in separate sessions using identical scan protocol and imaging parameters. True visible vessel length, signal-to-noise (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) and the average luminal diameter over the first 4 cm of the vessel were measured. Intra-observer, inter-observer and inter-scan reproducibility of coronary artery luminal diameter were determined using Pearson's correlation, Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Results: CNR, SNR and the mean length of the RCA, LAD and LCX imaged for original and repeat scans were not significantly different (all p > 0.30). There was a high degree of intra-observer, inter-observer and inter-scan agreements for RCA, LAD and LCX luminal diameter respectively on Bland-Altman and ICC analysis (ICC's for RCA: 0.98. 0.98 and 0.86; LAD: 0.89, 0.89 and 0.63; LCX: 0.95, 0.94 and 0.79). Conclusion: In a 2-center study, we demonstrate that free-breathing 3D SSFP CMRA can visualize long continuous segments of coronary vessels with highly reproducible measurements of luminal diameter.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 49-56 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2007 |
Keywords
- Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
- Coronary Artery Imaging
- Reproducibility
- Steady State Free Precession
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiological and Ultrasound Technology
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine