Is 300 msec too long for cardiac MR imaging? Feasibility study demonstrating changes in left ventricular cross-sectional area with use of single-shot turboFLASH imaging.

Abstract

To assess the feasibility of demonstrating cardiac motion with 313.6-msec single-shot turbo-fast low-angle shot magnetic resonance imaging. Effects of motion on single-shot images were evaluated with a phantom moving at known velocity. Single-shot images were obtained in eight healthy volunteers and four cardiac patients and compared with conventional cine images. The moving phantom was visualized at the location where zero phase-encoded data were sampled. When the velocity was within the physiologic range of left ventricular wall motion (< 11 cm/sec), the full width at half maximum of the object on a 64 x 64-matrix image with a 4.9-msec repetition time was comparable with that of a stationary phantom. The left ventricular cross-sectional area determined with single-shot imaging showed good correlation with results of conventional cine imaging (r = .96) in healthy volunteers. Single-shot imaging can be used for simple and quick assessment of cardiac function.