Abstract
Objective
Our aim was to study the influence of small variations in spatial resolution and contrast agent dosage on myocardial T1 relaxation time.
Materials and methods
Twenty-nine healthy volunteers underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance at 3T twice, including a modified look-locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) technique—3(3)3(3)5—for T1 mapping. Native T1 was assessed in three spatial resolutions (voxel size 1.4 × 1.4 × 6, 1.6 × 1.6 × 6, 1.7 × 1.7 × 6 mm3), and postcontrast T1 after 0.1 and 0.2 mmol/kg gadobutrol. Partition coefficient was calculated based on myocardial and blood T1. T1 analysis was done per segment, per slice, and for the whole heart.
Results
Native T1 values did not differ with varying spatial resolution per segment (p = 0.116–0.980), per slice (basal: p = 0.772; middle: p = 0.639; apex: p = 0.276), and globally (p = 0.191). Postcontrast T1 values were significantly lower with higher contrast agent dosage (p < 0.001). The global partition coefficient was 0.43 ± 0.3 for 0.2 and 0.1 mmol gadobutrol (p = 0.079).
Conclusion
Related to the tested MOLLI technique at 3T, very small variations in spatial resolution (voxel sizes between 1.4 × 1.4 × 6 and 1.7 × 1.7 × 6 mm3) remained without effect on the native T1 relaxation times. Postcontrast T1 values were naturally shorter with higher contrast agent dosage while the partition coefficient remained constant. Further studies are necessary to test whether these conclusions hold true for larger matrix sizes and in larger cohorts.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the technicians Kerstin Kretschel, Evelyn Polzin, and Denise Kleindienst for assisting in acquiring the CMR data, the study nurses Elke Nickel and Antje Els for assisting in the organization of the CMR scans, and Dr. Carsten Schwenke (SCOSSIS, Berlin) for statistical support. The study was supported by the Else-Kröner-Fresenius Stiftung.
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A. Greiser is employee of Siemens Healthcare.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants in the study.
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10334_2016_581_MOESM1_ESM.xlsx
Table S1. Excel file containing the native T1 values, post-contrast T1 values and partition coefficient for every myocardial segment
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Blaszczyk, E., Töpper, A., Schmacht, L. et al. Influence of spatial resolution and contrast agent dosage on myocardial T1 relaxation times. Magn Reson Mater Phy 30, 85–91 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-016-0581-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-016-0581-0