Cardiac-Respiratory Self-Gated Cine UTE for Visualization of the Cardiac Valves

Verena Hoerr¹, Nina Nagelmann¹, Arno Nauerth², Cornelius Faber³

To minimize flow and susceptibility artifacts in cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), we have implemented a cardiac and respiratory self-gated cine ultra-short echo time (UTE) sequence. In comparison with a self-gated fast low angle shot (FLASH) sequence the UTE sequence was superior in terms of image quality and the observation of the cardiac valves. To further improve the observation of the moving valves, Reflection Point visualization was used highlighting valvular tissue. This novel visualization technique allowed for a clear observation of the movement of the four cardiac valves: aortic, mitral, pulmonary and tricuspidal valve, during the full cardiac cycle.