AI Article Synopsis

  • The study evaluated the effects of sublingual nitroglycerin (NTG) on coronary MR angiography (MRA) in 15 volunteers, focusing on timing, artery diameter, and image quality.
  • Post-NTG results showed a significant increase in lumen diameter (average 25.35% increase) and improvements in trigger delay and acquisition window, while scanning time increased.
  • Despite improvements, NTG administration also had some drawbacks, including less effective vasodilation in the left circumflex artery and decreased image quality in certain segments, suggesting the need for further research on mitigating these issues.

Article Abstract

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 0.05 considered significant.

Results: The mean trigger delay and optimal acquisition window were shortened significantly and the mean scanning time was prolonged statistically after NTG administration. There was no significant alteration in terms of apparent SNR and apparent CNR. The lumen diameters were significantly larger in coronary MRA post-NTG than in that of pre-NTG, with an average 25.35% +/- 6.51% (SD) increase, and the left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) had slightly lower vasodilation in comparison with the right coronary artery. Image quality scores of 53 (39.3%, 53/135) segments were increased and 15 segments (11.1%, 15/135) decreased after NTG administration, and the remaining 67 segments (49.6%, 67/135) were unchanged.

Conclusion: In general, sublingual NTG is useful for improving visualization of the coronary artery lumen and alleviating the impact of artifact. However, several alterations and disadvantages should be taken into consideration in view of the disturbed assessment of vasodilatory response in the LCX and the impaired quality in a minority of segments after NTG administration. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of beta-blockade on eliminating the disadvantages of sublingual NTG.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.2214/AJR.09.3330DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

ntg administration
12
coronary artery
12
coronary
9
coronary angiography
8
snr apparent
8
image quality
8
coronary mra
8
sublingual ntg
8
ntg
6
influence applying
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!