Single breath-hold extended free-breathing navigator-gated three-dimensional coronary MRA

Purpose To acquire the center of k-space while extending three-dimensional free-breathing navigator-gated coronary magnetic resonance (MR) angiography by an initial single breath-hold. Materials and Methods This approach was successfully applied in eight healthy adult subjects. Resulting images were compared with conventionally acquired free-breathing navigator-gated MR angiograms. Results The acquisition of k-space center during the single breath-hold resulted in a 26% increase (P < 0.05) of signal-to-noise ratio. Visible length of the right coronary artery, as well as contrast-to-noise ratio between the blood and the myocardial muscle, were identical. Conclusion The breath-hold extension was shown to be a valuable technique that may be combined with first-pass contrast-enhanced MR imaging. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2002;15:210–214. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.