Espree

All MR examinations used 1.5T or 3T scanners (Espree, Achieva; Philips, Best, Netherlands and Skyra; Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) using standard clinical protocols of noncontrast TOF MR angiography techniques. MR parameters were: Espree, 31/7 ms (TR/TE), 384 × 200 matrix, 199 × 160 mm FOV, 25° FA, 1 mm slice thickness; Achieva, 24/4.2 ms (TR/TE), 304 × 174 matrix, 150 × 150 mm FOV, 22° FA, 2.6 mm slice thickness; and Skyra, 20/3.3 ms (TR/TE), 384 × 139 matrix, 240 × 145 mm FOV, 15° FA, 1.0 mm slice thickness. To reduce saturation effects, tilted optimized nonsaturating excitation/ramped pulse was applied to all MR angiography studies. Neck TOF-MR angiography was acquired in transverse planes and extended to the aortic arch and adjacent parts including thyroid glands. Source images were generated using steady-state coherent gradient echo sequences, and post processing was performed using a maximum intensity projection. Both were displayed on picture archiving and communication systems.

The patients underwent CMR imaging on 1.5T (Siemens models: Aera, Avanto, Espree, Sonata, SonataVision and Symphony; Philips models: Achieva and Intera; GE models: Signa excite) or 3T (Siemens Verio) clinical scanners within 10 days after infarct following a standardized protocol^{6 (link),23 (link),24 (link)}, that includes ECG-gated balanced steady-state free precession sequences (TR = 3.573 ms; TE median of 1.786 (1.649—1.786) ms; Flip angle = 60°) and T1-weighted LGE images. All sequences were acquired in horizontal and vertical long-axis views as well as continuous short-axis (SAx) stacks capturing the whole LV (Pixel size: 1.25 (1.25—1.48) mm; Spacing between SAx: 8.00 (8.00–8.00) mm). Ventricular volumes and infarct characteristics were determined in sequential SAx by blinded clinicians^{6 (link),24 (link)}, via dedicated software cmr42²⁷ . Standard thresholding techniques were applied to assess IS and MVO, as explained in^{6 (link),24 (link)}.