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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Modified electrocardiograph-triggered black-blood turbo spin-echo technique to improve T1-weighting in contrast-enhanced MRI of atherosclerotic carotid arteries

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Purpose To assess the efficacy of a modified electrocardiograph (EKG)-triggered black-blood T1W (T1W) spin-echo sequence in improving contrast on post-gadolinium high-resolution carotid plaque imaging by implementing heart-rate–independent contrast preparation. Materials and Methods We used a standard EKG-triggered double inversion-recovery (DIR) turbo spin-echo (TSE) sequence modified with the addition of an extra saturation (90°) radio frequency (RF) pulse placed immediately after the DIR module, shortening the repetition time to a fixed value of 400 msec. A total of 10 patients with atherosclerotic disease were included in the study. Postinjection intraplaque contrast measurements were performed on each patient for the standard and the modified sequence. Results Post-gadolinium-injection intraplaque contrast was 31.7 ± 12.8% with the standard T1W sequence (nT1-TSE), and 45.3 ± 17.2% with the modified T1W sequence (mT1-TSE), showing a significant contrast enhancement of 13.6% (P < 0.001) without significant image quality modification. Conclusion The addition of a RF pulse to the standard EKG-triggered T1W TSE sequence increased intraplaque contrast without increasing sequence acquisition time. Furthermore, it appeared to be a robust technique, easy to implement on clinical scanners. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008;28:533–537. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.