Abstract #0257

Combined Saturation/Inversion Recovery Sequences for Improved Evaluation of Scar and Diffuse Fibrosis in Patients with Arrhythmia or Heart Rate Variability

Sebastian Weingrtner¹,², Mehmet Akakaya¹, Kraig V. Kissinger¹, Beth Goddu¹, Sophie J. Berg¹, Warren J. Manning¹, Reza Nezafat¹

¹Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; ²Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, University Medical Center Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

We propose magnetization preparation which combines saturation and inversion pulses, for improved Late Gadolinium enhancement imaging and T₁ mapping in the presence of arrhythmia and heart rate variability. A saturation pulse right after the detection of the R-wave erases the magnetization history and is followed by an inversion time to enhance T₁-weighted contrast.