Congenital Heart Disease: Role of Time-Resolved MR Angiography

Background and Objective: Cardiac MRI and contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) are gaining interest as non-invasive diagnostic measures for both primary diagnosis and follow up of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) (1). Due to the presence of complex anatomy and extensive collateral pathways between pulmonary and systemic circulation in patients with CHD, a highly temporally resolved imaging can provide valuable dynamic and functional information in circumstances where steady state imaging cannot. Using a 32-channel MR scanner and multi-coil receiver technology, in addition to implementing most recent advancement in fast imaging tools such as parallel acquisition (2) and sparse k-space sampling methods such as time-resolved angiography with interleaved stochastic trajectories (TWIST) (3), we investigated the clinical usefulness of a 3D CE-MRA protocol that encompasses both high spatial and high temporal resolution acquisition in evaluation of the anatomy and hemodynamics of the patients with CHD. The aim of this presentation was to investigate whether TR-MRA can unravel complex functional vascular anatomy in patients with CHD and to assess the incremental diagnostic value of TR-MRA over conventional MRA in this population.