3.0 T unenhanced Dixon water-fat separation whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance angiography: compressed-sensing sensitivity encoding imaging versus conventional 2D sensitivity encoding imaging.

This study was aimed to investigate 3.0 T unenhanced Dixon water-fat whole-heart CMRA (coronary magnetic resonance angiography) using compressed-sensing sensitivity encoding (CS-SENSE) and conventional sensitivity encoding (SENSE) in vitro and in vivo. The key parameters of CS-SENSE and conventional 1D/2D SENSE were compared in vitro phantom study.

Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstruction in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: The Utility of Myocardial Strain Based on Cardiac MR Tissue Tracking.

Background: Myocardial strain for assessment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is of importance and may play a role in identifying obstruction in HCM patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the utility of myocardial strain for detecting left ventricular (LV) outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction in HCM patients based on magnetic resonance tissue tracking.

Study Type: Retrospective.

Three-Dimensional Free-Breathing Whole-Heart Coronary Magnetic Resonance Angiography at 1.5 T: Gadobutrol-Enhanced Gradient-Echo Acquisition Sequence Versus Non-Contrast-Enhanced Steady-State Free Precession Sequence.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare gadobutrol-enhanced gradient-echo sequence (GRE) acquisition with T2-prepared non-contrast-enhanced steady-state free precession (SSFP) in coronary magnetic resonance angiography at 1.5 T.

Methods: Twenty-one subjects successfully completed GRE and SSFP acquisition.

Assessment of the acute effects of glucocorticoid treatment on coronary microembolization using cine, first-pass perfusion, and delayed enhancement MRI.

Purpose: To assess the acute effects of methylprednisone treatment (MPT) on coronary microembolization (CME) by cardiac cine, first-pass perfusion, and delayed gadolinium enhancement magnetic resonance imaging (DE-MRI) in an experimental swine model.

Materials And Methods: Microembolization was established by intracoronary infusion of microspheres into the left anterior artery. Swine received placebo (n = 12) or methylprednisolone (n = 10, 30 mg/kg) intravenously 30 minutes before microembolization.

Computed tomography of gastrohepatic ligament involvement by gastric carcinoma.

Purpose: This study was aimed to analyze the contrast-enhanced CT features of gastrohepatic ligament (GHL) involvement in gastric carcinoma (GC) and to evaluate the influence of GHL on the spread of GC correlating with the anatomic bases.

Methods: CT scans of 41 patients known to have GC and GHL involvement were reviewed retrospectively for the primary tumor and the GHL abnormalities, as well as the role GHL played in the spread of GC. Emphasis was placed on direct invasion, lymph node metastasis, and GHL seeding.

3D coronary MR angiography at 1.5 T: Volume-targeted versus whole-heart acquisition.

Purpose: To compare volume-targeted acquisition with whole-heart acquisition in 1.5-T free-breathing 3D coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with parallel imaging.

Materials And Methods: The major coronary arteries were imaged in 36 subjects using the whole-heart and volume-targeted acquisitions with comparable imaging parameters.

Noninvasive test of nitrate-induced coronary vasomotion by 1.5-T whole-heart 3D magnetic resonance angiography using a T2-prepared SSFP sequence.

This study was aimed to investigate the use of 1.5-T whole-heart 3D coronary MRA employing a T2-prepared SSFP sequence for assessing epicardial coronary artery vasodilation following exogenous nitrates. Navigator-gated whole-heart 3D coronary MRA was performed before and after sublingual nitroglycerin (NTG) in 22 volunteers and a T2-prepared SSFP sequence was used for imaging of coronary arteries without MR contrast agent.

Conjugates of folic acids with BSA-coated quantum dots for cancer cell targeting and imaging by single-photon and two-photon excitation.

Bovine serum albumin (BSA)-coated CdTe/ZnS quantum dots (BSA-QDs) were selected to conjugate with folic acid (FA), forming FA-BSA-QDs. This study aims to develop these small FA-BSA-QDs (less than 10 nm) for the diagnosis of cancers in which the FA receptor (FR) is overexpressed. The enhancement of cellular uptake in FR-positive human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells (KB cells) for FA-BSA-QDs was found by means of confocal fluorescence microscopy under single-photon and two-photon excitation.

Influence of applying nitroglycerin in whole-heart free-breathing 3D coronary MR angiography.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to assess the impact of sublingual nitroglycerin (NTG) spray on free-breathing 3D whole-heart coronary MR angiography (MRA).

Subjects And Methods: We compared the timing parameters; measured the lumen diameter of the major coronary arteries; calculated coronary vasodilation, apparent signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and apparent contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR); and evaluated the image quality on pre- and post-NTG coronary MRA in 15 volunteers. Statistical analysis was performed with p value less than 0.

A study of in vitro and in vivo MR of free-breathing whole-heart 3D coronary angiography using parallel imaging.

To evaluate parallel-imaging methods in free-breathing whole-heart 3D coronary magnetic resonance angiography and assess the navigator techniques and visualization rates of the major coronary arteries. We compared key parameters of the generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisition and modified sensitive encoding images in vitro phantom MRI; performed the MRA with GRAPPA parallel imaging in healthy volunteers; compared 1D- and 2D-prospective acquisition correction and analyzed the differences; and evaluated the visualization of major coronary arterial branches. GRAPPA images had higher signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio and fewer aliasing artifacts.