Comparison of MTC-BOOST and native T2prep-bSSFP cardiac MRI.
(A) Multiplanar reformatted images in a 34-year-old man
diagnosed with tetralogy of Fallot after repair with transannular patch.
Severe pulmonary artery regurgitation caused signal voids in the right
ventricle, right ventricular outflow tract, and main pulmonary artery
because of flow artifact (yellow arrow) in the clinical native sequence.
Off-resonance artifact is demonstrated in the left atrium (blue arrow).
Artifacts are minimized with the proposed MTC-BOOST sequence (red
arrows). (B) Multiplanar reformatted images in an
18-year-old man with hypoplastic left heart syndrome after total
cavopulmonary connection completion with a fenestrated lateral tunnel
Fontan pathway. Signal voids are observed in the lateral tunnel and
right atrium because of stagnant flow (purple arrows) in the native
T2prep-bSSFP clinical data set, which necessitate further imaging for
the exclusion of obstruction. Residual respiratory artifact (red
arrowhead) is also present. The MTC-BOOST sequence demonstrates the
vascular lumen without substantial artifact and excludes obstruction
(red arrows). (C) Multiplanar reformatted images in a
23-year-old man with tetralogy of Fallot after repair with transannular
patch, followed by pulmonary valve replacement with homograft due to
severe regurgitation. Off-resonance artifacts in the pulmonary veins in
the native T2-prep bSSFP sequence (black arrows) impede the sequential
segmental anatomic description. Pulmonary venous return can be
established in the MTC-BOOST data set (red arrows). (D)
Multiplanar reformatted images in a 23-year-old woman with a small
perimembranous ventricular septal defect that has not been repaired,
causing mild aortic regurgitation. Flow-related artifact in the left
ventricle (blue arrow) observed in the clinical native data set is
suppressed in the MTC-BOOST data set. The left anterior descending
coronary artery is sharply delineated with the research sequence (white
arrow), owing to the improved fat suppression. Ao = aorta, LA = left
atrium, LAD = left anterior descending artery, LV = left ventricle, MPA
= main pulmonary artery, MTC-BOOST = Magnetization Transfer Contrast
Bright-and-black blOOd phase SensiTive, RPA = right pulmonary artery, RV
= right ventricle, RVOT = RV outflow tract, SVC = superior vena cava,
T2prep-bSSFP = T2-prepared balanced steady-state free precession.