Abstract #1305

Myocardial Extracellular Volume Imaging - Phantom Validation and Patient Feasibility for Quantitative Pixel Mapping of the Fractional Distribution Volume of Extracellular Contrast Agents by MRI

Martin Ugander¹, Abiola J. Oki¹, Peter Kellman¹, Andreas Greiser², Anthony H. Aletras¹, Andrew E. Arai¹

¹National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States; ²Siemens AG Healthcare Sector, Erlangen, Germany

T1-mapping of the heart before and after intravenous contrast administration can be used to generate quantitative pixel-maps of the extracellular volume (ECV) fraction of the myocardium in patients. The study presents comprehensive phantom, experimental and patient validation of the T1 mapping sequence (MOLLI) which is used to calculate ECV. The method provides images for quantitative assessment of the ECV of the myocardium, and in principle any other tissue, in a pixel map with a quantitative color scale ranging from 0-100%.