Proton nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of regionally ischemic canine hearts: effect of paramagnetic proton signal enhancement.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In a study to evaluate the potential of proton NMR imaging with and without MN contrast enhancement for detecting acute myocardial infarction, 12 dogs underwent 90-min occlusion of the left circumflex coronary artery. Transverse-section NMR images of the excised, nonbeating heart were obtained at 1-cm intervals using the steady-state-free-precession (SSFP) technique. All NMR images revealed detailed structure of the heart. The 3 hearts without Mn showed no difference in intensity between the normal and the ischemic posterior regions, while those with Mn demonstrated a clearly demarcated zone of reduced signal intensity consistent with the ischemic zone. High-resolution tomograms of the excised canine myocardium can be obtained using proton NMR imaging. With the SSFP imaging technique, proton signal enhancement with Mn infusion is necessary to differentiate between ischemic and nonischemic myocardium after 90 min of coronary occlusion.