Imagerie par résonance magnétique des artères coronaires: acquisition « cœur entier », en respiration libre, sans injection d'agent de contraste et utilisant la séquence 3D en écho de gradient balancé ultrarapide

The 3D balanced gradient-echo technique is described along with th eimaging protocol for MR imaging of th ecoronary arteries. A 3D volume with spatial resolution of 0.6 x 0.6 x 0.75 mm composed of 140 slices covering the whole heart is acquired over 10 minutes. The main advantage of this whole heart technique is the possibility to image the coronary arteries along their entire course in a single acquisition. Selection of the navigator positions, timing of image acquisition and its duration through the R-R interval are the main factors requiring optimization.