Abstract #0025

Contrast-Enhanced Whole-Heart Coronary MRA at 1.5T in Less Than 5 Minutes Using Gradient Echo Interleaved EPI and Double Dose of Gd-DTPA

Himanshu Bhat¹, Sven Zuehlsdorff², Xiaoming Bi², Xin Liu¹, Renate Jerecic², Debiao Li¹

¹Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; ²Siemens Medical Solutions, Chicago, IL, USA

A gradient echo interleaved EPI (GRE-EPI) sequence was optimized for contrast-enhanced whole-heart coronary MRA at 1.5T in a scan time less than 5 minutes. This is approximately a factor of 2 reduction in scan time compared to current whole-heart TrueFISP protocols. The reduced scan time made it feasible to acquire images with a more commonly used contrast agent Gd-DTPA instead of high relaxivity contrast agent Gd-BOPTA.