Black-Blood Restricted Field of View Sequence for Pre-Ablation Imaging of the Atria

Introduction Pre-ablation MR imaging of atria in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) or flutter (AFL) is one of the most challenging applications of cardiac MRI [1]. However, knowledge of the atrial anatomy, in particular the wall thickness, is important for the subsequent ablation procedure; suboptimal ablation settings may entail a re-connection of tissue, or bear the risk of a puncture of the thin (2mm) atrial wall. A restricted FOV MR sequence which allows exclusive imaging of the atria was evaluated in the present study. The targeted imaging sequence provides a clear depiction of the atrial wall thickness with submillimeter resolution in a clinically acceptable scan time and mitigates motion artifacts, particularly in patients in AF.