Parallel imaging aids 3D MRA in infants

Parallel imaging has reduced acquisition time for contrast MR, making it possible to use 3D MR angiography in imaging infants with suspected congenital abnormalities.

The new capability was demonstrated in a study of 22 infants and small children at the University of Heidelberg using time-resolved 3D FLASH MRA performed with GRAPPA using an acceleration factor of 2 on a 1.5T scanner. All studies were deemed diagnostic with no relevant motion artifacts, according to Dr. Joachim Eichorn. Small aberrant vessels including multiple aortopulmonary collateral arteries were visualized.

In related research, Dr. Jochem van den Berg at Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, found perfusion imaging uncovers otherwise undetected ventricular diastolic dysfunctions including impaired relaxation and filling restrictions linked to the tetralogy of Fallot.

Dr. Giulia Russo at the University of Padua in Padova, Italy, described the value of delayed-enhancement MRI for assessing the risk of sudden death among 27 consecutive adults with repaired tetralogy of Fallot. Delayed enhancement was seen in seven of eight patients with histories of life-threatening arrhythmic events but only two of 19 without incidences of sustained ventricular tachycardia.

This special section was compiled by James Brice, senior editor of Diagnostic Imaging.