3D Spiral LGE for Reduced Enhancement Artifacts in PV Imaging of Pre- & Post-Ablation Scar.

Benjamin R. Knowles¹, Warren J. Manning¹, Dana C. Peters¹

The detection of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) due to RF ablation of the pulmonary veins, or for the visualization of arrhythmic substrate is challenging due to the thickness of the left atrial myocardium. Image artifacts can be mis-interpreted as enhancement. We demonstrate how the use of a stack-of-spirals LGE sequence can be implemented to reduce the artifacts observed from incomplete fat suppression and from edge-artifacts due to profile ordering. Results are shown in simulations, phantoms and in-vivo studies. The spiral LGE sequence was found to reduce enhancement compared to Cartesian, and is more likely to reflect true enhancement.