Free-breathing 3D phase-sensitive inversion recovery late gadolinium enhancement at 3.0 Tesla: reliability and image quality in ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in comparison with multiple breath-hold 3D imaging

Background In both ischemic (ICM) and non-ischemic (NICM) cardiomyopathy late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) is an important cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) technique. LGE CMR, traditionally performed in 2D during multiple breath-holds (MB), is challenging for vulnerable patients and subject to slice misregistration. Therefore, LGE CMR during free-breathing (FB) is more robust and enables to perform 3D acquisition, increase resolution and apply phase-sensitive inversion recovery (PSIR). We developed and clinically tested a high spatial resolution PSIR LGE sequence using a respiratory navigator in both ICM and NICM patients. Reliability and image quality were compared to a multiple breath-hold 3D approach (MB-3D).