European Heart Journal Advance Access originally published online on June 21, 2005
European Heart Journal 2005 26(21):2320-2324; doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehi357
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Reproducibility of 3D free-breathing magnetic resonance coronary vessel wall imaging
1Russell. H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiologic Sciences, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, JHOC 4243, 601, North Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
2Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, JHOC 4243, 601, North Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
3Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, JHOC 4243, 601, North Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
4Department of Electrical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Medical School, JHOC 4243, 601, North Caroline Street, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA
5National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
6Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
Received 24 January 2005; revised 2 May 2005; accepted 10 May 2005; online publish-ahead-of-print 21 June 2005.
* Corresponding author. Tel: +1 443 287 5241; Fax: +1 410 614 1977. E-mail address: mstuber{at}mri.jhu.edu
Aims Although the coronary artery vessel wall can be imaged non-invasively using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the in vivo reproducibility of wall thickness measures has not been previously investigated. Using a refined magnetization preparation scheme, we sought to assess the reproducibility of three-dimensional (3D) free-breathing black-blood coronary MRI in vivo.
Methods and results MRI vessel wall scans parallel to the right coronary artery (RCA) were obtained in 18 healthy individuals (age range 25–43, six women), with no known history of coronary artery disease, using a 3D dual-inversion navigator-gated black-blood spiral imaging sequence. Vessel wall scans were repeated 1 month later in eight subjects. The visible vessel wall segment and the wall thickness were quantitatively assessed using a semi-automatic tool and the intra-observer, inter-observer, and inter-scan reproducibilities were determined. The average imaged length of the RCA vessel wall was 44.5±7 mm. The average wall thickness was 1.6±0.2 mm. There was a highly significant intra-observer (r=0.97), inter-observer (r=0.94), and inter-scan (r=0.90) correlation for wall thickness (all P<0.001). There was also a significant agreement for intra-observer, inter-observer, and inter-scan measurements on Bland–Altman analysis. The intra-class correlation coefficients for intra-observer (r=0.97), inter-observer (r=0.92), and inter-scan (r=0.86) analyses were also excellent.
Conclusion The use of black-blood free-breathing 3D MRI in conjunction with semi-automated analysis software allows for reproducible measurements of right coronary arterial vessel-wall thickness. This technique may be well-suited for non-invasive longitudinal studies of coronary atherosclerosis.
Key Words: Coronary artery vessel wall imaging • Magnetic resonance imaging • Reproducibility
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