Abstract #0484

Myocardial T2* Mapping Free of Distortion Using Susceptibility Weighted Spin-Echo Based Imaging: A Feasibility Study at 1.5 T and 3.0T

Uwe Heinrichs¹, Jane Francis Utting², Tobias Frauenrath², Fabian Hezel², Gabriele A. Krombach², Michael AJ Hodenius³, Sebastian Kozerke⁴, Thoralf Niendorf^2,5

¹Department of Diagnostic Radiology, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen, Germany; ²Department of Diagnostic Radiology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; ³2Department of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz-Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; ⁴3Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; ⁵Faculty of Mathematics, Computerscience and Natural Science, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen, Germany

This study is designed to demonstrate the promise of navigator gated, susceptibility weighted fast spin-echo imaging in conjunction with ventricular blood suppression for anatomically accurate T2*-mapping of the heart. First results of phantom and volunteer studies demonstrate the geometrical integrity and high image quality obtained with UFLARE - even for strong T2*-weighting at 1.5T and 3.0T. T2*-mapping using UFLARE yielded mean T2* values for the inferoseptal myocardium of 29.96.6 ms at 1.5T and 22.34.8 ms at 3.0T. The results derived with susceptibility weighted UFLARE promise to extend the capabilities of CVMR including mapping and quantification of myocardial iron content.