Andreas Kumar1, Nirat Beohar2,
Jain Mangalathu Arumana3, Debiao Li3, Matthias G.
Friedrich1, Rohan Dharmakumar3
1Stephenson CMR Centre, University of
Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada; 2Dept. of Cardiology , Northwestern
University, Chicago, IL, United States; 3Dept. of Radiology,
Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
We
assessed the role of balanced steady-state free precession magnetic resonance
for imaging of myocardial edema in acute reperfused myocardial infarction. In
an experimental animal model as well as in patients with ST-elevation
myocardial infarction, we found a close correlation of hyperintense b-SSFP
signal areas with T2-STIR as a reference standard. Contrast-to-noise was not
different between both sequences, and the area of b-SSFP hyperintensity was
consistently larger than the area of irreversible injury on late contrast
enhancement, consistent with b-SSFP reflecting the area-at-risk in acute
ischemia-reperfusion injury. B-SSFP may evolve as a novel approach for
myocardial edema imaging.