Anthony Homer Aletras1, Peter Kellman1, Li-Yueh Hsu1, Daniel Groves1, Robert F. Hoyt Jr. 2, Andrew Ernest Arai1
1Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA; 2Office of the Scientific Director, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
We hypothesized that, due to the intrinsic T1 and T2 associated with myocardial edema, higher contrast between the AAR and normal myocardium would be measured with pre-gadolinium T2 MRI than with pre-gadolinium T1 MRI. We also hypothesized than this would also be true for contrast between the infarct and peri-infarct zones within the AAR. Our in-vivo results suggest that T2 MRI can yield better contrast than T1 MRI for differentiating infarct, peri-infarct and remote myocardium. These results do not reflect limitations set by a particular pulse sequence but rather by the physiology itself. These results are based on the intrinsic T1 and T2 changes as a result of different water content, water mobility and interactions with the lattice within the three regions.