Nongated cardiac magnetic resonance imaging: preliminary experience at 0.12 T

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Abstract
Nongated cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been reported previously to be inadequate for obtaining diagnostic information. This study explored the role of pulse sequence in the degradation of the nongated cardiac image. Images of diagnostic quality were obtained by using single spin-echo sequences with a very short echo time (10-20 msec TE) on a 0.12-T developmental MR unit. Marked degradation of the image was noted with longer TEs, and it is concluded that the previous unfavorable reports using a nongated technique may have been due to the longer TEs used in other units. Short-TE technique was used to examine 34 patients with a variety of cardiac diseases. Eleven patients had ventricular aneurysms. These cases showed thinning of the myocardium, and four of them showed increased signal within the aneurysm, perhaps related to regionally slower blood flow. Twenty patients had enlargement of one or more cardiac chambers. Three of these patients had thrombus within an enlarged chamber, which was re...