Comparison of X-ray fluoroscopy and interventional magnetic resonance imaging for the assessment of coronary artery stenoses in swine

• Published in: Magnetic resonance in medicine 2005-11, Vol.54 (5), p.1094-1099
• Main Authors: Green, Jordin D., Omary, Reed A., Schirf, Brian E., Tang, Richard, Lu, Biao, Gehl, James A., Huang, J. Jenny, Carr, James C., Pereles, F. Scott, Li, Debiao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Angiography - methods; Animals; Cardiac Catheterization - methods; catheter-directed MR angiography; comparative studies; coronary angiography; Coronary Stenosis - diagnostic imaging; Coronary Stenosis - pathology; fluoroscopy; Fluoroscopy - methods; interventional MR; Magnetic Resonance Angiography - methods; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Swine
• ISSN: 0740-3194; 1522-2594
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.20699

The accuracy of a two‐step interventional MRI protocol to quantify coronary artery disease was compared to the clinical gold standard, X‐ray angiography. Studies were conducted in nine swine with a surgically induced stenosis in the proximal left circumflex coronary artery. The two‐step protocol consisted of catheter‐directed magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), which was first used to localize the stenosis, followed by MRI cross‐sectional images to quantify the degree of stenosis without the use of contrast agent. Line signal intensity profiles were drawn across the vessel diameter at the stenosis site and proximal to the stenosis for each data set to measure percentage stenosis for each animal. Catheter‐directed MRA successfully detected eight of nine stenoses. Cross‐sectional MRI accurately quantified each stenosis, with strong agreement to the measurements made using X‐ray fluoroscopy (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.955; P < 0.05). This study demonstrates that in the future interventional MRI may be an alternative to X‐ray angiography for the detection and quantification of coronary artery disease. Magn Reson Med, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.