Breath-hold MR cine angiography of coronary arteries in healthy volunteers: value of multiangle oblique imaging planes

Abstract

Objective: Breath-hold MR cine angiography was used to depict the coronary arteries in healthy volunteers. Multiangle oblique imaging planes were evaluated for feasibility in showing continuous segments of the proximal and middle portions of the left anterior descending and right coronary arteries.

Subjects and methods: Eighteen healthy subjects were examined with a 1.5-T MR imager. Fat-suppressed fast gradient-echo images (TR = 9.8 msec, TE = 3.5 msec) were acquired with a 13-cm receive surface coil. A segmented k-space data acquisition was used to obtain images of the coronary arteries at several phases of the cardiac cycle within a single breath-hold. Multiangle double oblique images that were tangential and sequential to the epicardial surface of the left ventricle were used to show the left anterior descending artery, and oblique coronal images were used to show the right coronary artery. Images of consecutive slice locations were shown in a cine format, and the length of each major coronary artery that was continuously visualized was measured.

Results: The left main coronary artery, proximal left anterior descending artery, and right coronary artery were demonstrated in all subjects. The mid and distal portions of the left anterior descending artery and diagonal branches were visualized best on multiangle oblique imaging planes. Continuous segments (> 6 cm) of the left anterior descending artery and right coronary artery were imaged in 14 subjects (78%) and 12 subjects (67%), respectively. Cine display was useful for showing the continuity of the coronary arterial segments and also for distinguishing arteries from veins.

Conclusion: Double oblique imaging planes were useful in showing long segments of left anterior descending and right coronary arteries on coronary MR angiograms. Further work is necessary to improve detection of the left circumflex artery.