Contrast‐enhanced whole‐heart coronary MRI with bolus infusion of gadobenate dimeglumine at 1.5 T

We sought to investigate the T1 kinetics of blood and myocardium after three infusion schemes of gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd‐BOPTA) and subsequently compared contrast‐enhanced whole‐heart coronary MRI after a bolus Gd‐BOPTA infusion with nonenhanced coronary MRI at 1.5 T. Blood and myocardium T1 was measured in seven healthy adults, after each underwent three Gd‐BOPTA infusion schemes (bolus: 0.2 mmol/kg at 2 mL/sec, hybrid: 0.1 mmol/kg at 2 mL/sec followed by 0.1 mmol/kg at 0.1 mL/sec, and slow: 0.2 mmol/kg at 0.3 mL/sec). Fourteen additional subjects underwent contrast‐enhanced coronary MRI with an inversion‐recovery steady‐state free precession sequence after bolus Gd‐BOPTA infusion. Images were compared with nonenhanced T2‐prepared steady‐state free precision whole‐heart coronary MRI in signal‐to‐noise ratio, contrast‐to‐noise ratio, depicted vessel length, vessel sharpness, and subjective image quality. Bolus and slow infusion schemes resulted in similar T1 during coronary MRI, whereas the hybrid infusion method yielded higher T1 values. A bolus infusion of Gd‐BOPTA significantly improved signal‐to‐noise ratio, contrast‐to‐noise ratio, depicted coronary artery length, and subjective image quality, when all segments were collectively compared but not when compared segment by segment. In conclusion, whole‐heart steady‐state free precision coronary MRI at 1.5 T can benefit from a bolus infusion of 0.2 mmol/kg Gd‐BOPTA. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.