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Three-dimensional morphological magnetic resonance imaging in infants and children with congenital heart disease

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Abstract

Background

Cardiac MRI has become a clinically useful supplement to ECHO and conventional X-ray angiography in the diagnostic work-up of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Three-dimensional (3D) sequences are capable of depicting both intracardiac and extracardiac structures with high accuracy in adults and adolescents. However, diagnostic image quality in infants and young children has not yet been reported.

Objective

To apply an optimized 3D steady-state free-precession (SSFP) MR sequence in infants and children with CHD.

Materials and methods

In 20 patients (median age 1.8 years; ten male) with CHD, whole-chest imaging was performed with navigator-gated, isotropic 3D SSFP MRI at 1.5 T. Sequence parameters were adapted to special requirements in infancy. Measurements of intra- and extracardiac structures were performed by two independent observers and compared to spin-echo and cine gradient-recalled-echo sequences.

Results

Diagnostic image quality was achieved with the 3D SSFP technique in all patients, allowing the establishment of a diagnosis in all cases. Interobserver comparison of measurements from reformatted 3D SSFP datasets revealed only minor differences with standard deviations ranging from 0.3–1.3 mm for intracardiac and 0.3–0.7 mm for extracardiac anatomy (P = ns).

Conclusion

Isotropic 3D SSFP MRI allows reliable and accurate assessment of CHD, even in free-breathing infants and young children.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the “EHLKE” foundation and the “Stiftung zur Förderung der Erforschung von Zivilisationserkrankungen”, Baden-Baden, Germany, for financial support and Vital Images Corporation (Plymouth, Minn.) for technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diagnostic Radiology, Eberhard-Karls-University, Hoppe-Seyler-Str. 3, Tuebingen, 72076, Germany

    Michael Fenchel, Ulrich Kramer, Claus D. Claussen & Stephan Miller

  2. Paediatric Cardiology, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany

    Gerald F. Greil & Ludger Sieverding

  3. Section of Experimental Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany

    Petros Martirosian & Fritz Schick

Authors
  1. Michael Fenchel
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  2. Gerald F. Greil
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  3. Petros Martirosian
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  4. Ulrich Kramer
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  5. Fritz Schick
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  6. Claus D. Claussen
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  7. Ludger Sieverding
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  8. Stephan Miller
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Correspondence to Michael Fenchel.

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Fenchel, M., Greil, G.F., Martirosian, P. et al. Three-dimensional morphological magnetic resonance imaging in infants and children with congenital heart disease. Pediatr Radiol 36, 1265–1272 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-006-0314-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-006-0314-z

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