Assessment of the right ventricle with cardiovascular magnetic resonance at 7 Tesla

Background: Functional and morphologic assessment of the right ventricle (RV) is of clinical importance. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) at 1.5T has become gold standard for RV chamber quantification and assessment of even small wall motion abnormalities, but tissue analysis is still hampered by limited spatial resolution. CMR at 7T promises increased resolution, but is technically challenging. We examined the feasibility of cine imaging at 7T to assess the RV. Methods: Nine healthy volunteers underwent CMR at 7T using a 16-element TX/RX coil and acoustic cardiac gating. 1.5T served as gold standard. At 1.5T, steady-state free-precession (SSFP) cine imaging with voxel size (1.2x1.2x6) mm(3) was used; at 7T, fast gradient echo (FGRE) with voxel size (1.2x1.2x6) mm(3) and (1.3x1.3x4) mm(3) were applied. RV dimensions (RVEDV, RVESV), RV mass (RVM) and RV function (RVEF) were quantified in transverse slices. Overall image quality, image contrast and image homogeneity were assessed in transverse and sagittal views. Results: All scans provided diagnostic image quality. Overall image quality and image contrast of transverse RV views were rated equally for SSFP at 1.5T and FGRE at 7T with voxel size (1.3x1.3x4) mm(3). FGRE at 7T provided significantly lower image homogeneity compared to SSFP at 1.5T. RVEDV, RVESV, RVEF and RVM did not differ significantly and agreed close between SSFP at 1.5T and FGRE at 7T (p=0.5850; p=0.5462; p=0.2789; p=0.0743). FGRE at 7T with voxel size (1.3x1.3x4) mm(3) tended to overestimate RV volumes compared to SSFP at 1.5T (mean difference of RVEDV 8.2 +/- 9.3ml) and to FGRE at 7T with voxel size (1.2x1.2x6) mm(3) (mean difference of RVEDV 9.3 +/- 8.6ml). Conclusions: FGRE cine imaging of the RV at 7T was feasible and provided good image quality. RV dimensions and function were comparable to SSFP at 1.5T as gold standard.