Single breath-hold extended free-breathing navigator-gated three-dimensional coronary MRA

Purpose: To acquire the center of k-space while extending three-dimensional free-breathing navigator-gated coronary magnetic resonance (MR) angiography by an initial single breath-hold.

Materials and methods: This approach was successfully applied in eight healthy adult subjects. Resulting images were compared with conventionally acquired free-breathing navigator-gated MR angiograms.

Results: The acquisition of k-space center during the single breath-hold resulted in a 26% increase (P < 0.05) of signal-to-noise ratio. Visible length of the right coronary artery, as well as contrast-to-noise ratio between the blood and the myocardial muscle, were identical.

Conclusion: The breath-hold extension was shown to be a valuable technique that may be combined with first-pass contrast-enhanced MR imaging.