A study of in vitro and in vivo MR of free-breathing whole-heart 3D coronary angiography using parallel imaging.

To evaluate parallel-imaging methods in free-breathing whole-heart 3D coronary magnetic resonance angiography and assess the navigator techniques and visualization rates of the major coronary arteries. We compared key parameters of the generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisition and modified sensitive encoding images in vitro phantom MRI; performed the MRA with GRAPPA parallel imaging in healthy volunteers; compared 1D- and 2D-prospective acquisition correction and analyzed the differences; and evaluated the visualization of major coronary arterial branches. GRAPPA images had higher signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio and fewer aliasing artifacts. The coronary arteries were adequately visualized in 38 volunteers. 2D-PACE had a higher navigator efficiency, shorter scan time, and gave clearer reconstructed images in comparison with 1D-PACE. GRAPPA images were superior to mSENSE images. Whole-heart 3D coronary MRA along with parallel-imaging technique is a potential clinical method, and 2D-PACE is a better navigation technique than 1D-PACE.