On the accuracy and precision of cardiac magnetic resonance T2 mapping: A high-resolution radial study using adiabatic T2 preparation at 3T

PurposeThe goal of this study was to characterize the accuracy and precision of cardiac T-2 mapping as a function of different factors including low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), imaging in systole, and off-resonance frequencies. MethodsBloch equation and Monte Carlo simulations were used to determine the influence of SNR and the choice of T-2 preparation echo time (TET2prep) increments on the accuracy and precision of high-resolution radial cardiac T-2 mapping at 3.0T. Healthy volunteers were scanned to establish the difference in precision and inter- and intraobserver variability between T-2 mapping in diastole and systole, as well as the effect of SNR and off-resonance frequencies on the accuracy of T-2 maps. ResultsThe simulations demonstrated that a TET2prep increment of approximate to 0.75 times the T-2 value of interest optimally increases the precision of the T-2 fit. Systolic T-2 maps were found to have a higher precision (P=0.002), but similar inter- and intraobserver variability compared with diastolic T-2 maps, whereas off-resonance frequencies beyond100Hz cause a significant decrease in both accuracy and precision (P<0.05). ConclusionThis evaluation of the accuracy and precision of cardiac T-2 mapping characterizes the major vulnerabilities of the technique and will help guide protocol definition of studies that include T-2 mapping. Magn Reson Med 77:159-169, 2017. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.