Rapid, Efficient Imaging

1357828 - MR Multitasking based Multi-dimensional Assessment of Cardiovascular System (MT-MACS) with Extended Spatial Coverage and Water-Fat Separation: Initial Clinical Experience

Friday, January 27, 2023

12:20 PM – 1:20 PM

Location: Pacific Jewel

Presenting Author(s)

YC

Yang Chen

Research Assistant
University of Southern California, United States

Co-Author(s)

Zhehao Hu, PhD

Research Assistant
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California, United States
Debiao Li, PhD

Professor
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, California, United States
Anthony G. Christodoulou, PhD

Assistant Professor
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, California, United States
Qi Yang, MD

Chairman
Chaoyang Hospital
Beijing, Beijing, China (People's Republic)

Primary Author(s)

ZF

Zhaoyang Fan, PhD

Associate Professor
University of Southern California, California, United States

Co-Author(s)

ZF

Zhaoyang Fan, PhD

Associate Professor
University of Southern California, California, United States
XL

Xin Liu, MD

Residence
Chaoyang Hospital, Guangdong, China (People's Republic)

Background: Imaging assessment of cardiac and vascular anatomy and function is a key component for diagnosis, risk stratification, and procedural planning in patients with cardiovascular diseases (1-3). MR imaging has the potential to provide a comprehensive assessment of the entire heart through multi-contrast, motion-resolved and water/fat imaging. An MR MultiTasking based 3D Multi-dimensional Assessment of Cardiovascular System (MT-MACS) technique has recently been shown to provide multi-contrast and cardiac phase-resolved imaging of the whole heart and thoracic aorta in a single scan without the need for ECG triggering, navigator gating or breath-holds (4). In this work, we conducted a clinical study to assess the performance of MT-MACS in patients with suspicious cardiomyopathies.

Methods:

Six consecutive patients suspected of cardiomyopathies were enrolled into an IRB-approved MR study. MT-MACS (Figure 1) was acquired after initial three-plane localizer. Major imaging parameters included: coronal orientation, FOV=224×224×162.4 mm³, spatial resolution=1.4×1.4×2.8 mm³ (interpolated to 1.4 mm³ isotropic), T2-prep duration=60 ms, TR/TE1/TE2=3.94/1.23/2.46 ms, 500 readouts after each T2IR, total scan time=10 min. Image reconstruction was performed offline to generate water-only images with multiple contrast weightings (i.e. bright-blood [BB], dark-blood [DB], gray-blood [GB]) and corresponding cine series as well as fat-only images. Qualitative (image quality score 1: poor, 4: excellent) and quantitative (left ventricular ejection fraction, wall thickness, and vessel diameter) were performed.

Results:

All cases received quality score of 3 to 4 (mean = 3.3). MT-MACS was able to provide multi-contrast water-only and fat images with flexibility of reformation for best visualization (Figure 2). Right ventricle/atrial enlargement was detected in 2 cases, ventricular hypertrophy was detected in 4 cases, aortic enlargement was detected in 1 case, and thrombus in atrial appendage was detected in 1 case. These findings and quantitative measurements consistent with transthoracic or transesophagus echoes.

Conclusion:

We demonstrated the clinical feasibility of using MT-MACS for cardiomyopathies assessment. Evaluation of its performance in more diverse cardiovascular diseases is underway.