Black-Blood Restricted Field of View Sequence for Pre-Ablation Imaging of the Atria

Christian Stehning¹, Dennis Caulfield², Benjamin R. Knowles², Steffen Weiss¹, Tobias Schaeffter²

Knowledge of the atrial wall anatomy is important for the subsequent RF ablation procedure. A restricted FOV MR sequence which allows exclusive imaging of the atria was evaluated in the present study. It provides a clear depiction of the atrial wall thickness with submillimeter resolution in a clinically acceptable scan time and mitigates motion artifacts, particularly in patients with cardiac arrhythmia.