Comparison of 3D and 2D late gadolinium enhancement magnetic resonance imaging in patients with acute and chronic myocarditis

AbstractWe compared a fast, single breath-hold three dimensional LGE sequence (3D LGE) with an established two dimensional multi breath-hold sequence (2D LGE) and evaluated image quality and the amount of myocardial fibrosis in patients with acute and chronic myocarditis. 3D LGE and 2D LGE (both spatial resolution 1.5  × 1.5 mm2, slice-thickness 8  mm, field of view 350 × 350 mm2) were acquired in 25 patients with acute myocarditis (mean age 40  ± 18 years, 7 female) and 27 patients with chronic myocarditis (mean age 44 ± 22 years, 9 female) on a 1.5 T MR system. Image quality was evaluated by two independent, blinded readers using a 5-point Likert scale. Total myocardial mass, fibrotic mass and total fibrotic tissue percentag e were quantified for both sequences in both groups. There was no significant difference in image quality between 3D und 2D acquisitions in patients with acute (p = 0.8) and chronic (p = 0.5) myocarditis. No significant differences between 3D and 2D acquisitions could be shown for myocardial mass (acute p = 0.2; chronic p = 0.3), fibrous tissue mass (acute p = 0.7; chronic p = 0.1) and total fibrous percentage (acute p = 0.4 and chronic p = 0.2). Inter-observer agreement was substantial to almost perfect. Acquisition time was significantly shorter for 3D LGE (24  ± 5 s) as compared to 2D LGE (350 ± 58 s, p <  0.001). In patients with acute and chronic myocarditis 3D LGE imaging...
Source: The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging - Category: Radiology Source Type: research