Cardiac T1 Mapping Protocol for CMR

Twenty-nine patients referred for clinical CMR (58±15 y, 19 male) were recruited. Informed consent was obtained from all participants and the imaging protocol was approved by our institutional review board. All patients were scanned using a 1.5T Philips Achieva (Philips Healthcare, Best, The Netherlands) scanner with a 32-channel cardiac phased array receiver coil. Each patient received an injection of 0.1 mmol/kg of gadobenate dimeglumine (MultiHance; Bracco Diagnostic Inc., Princeton, NJ). T₁ mapping was performed using the MOLLI sequence (12 (link)) before and after contrast administration. The 5-(3 (link))-3 MOLLI scheme was used for pre-contrast T₁ mapping while the 4-(1 (link))-3-(1 (link))-2 MOLLI scheme was used for post contrast T₁ mapping (29 (link)). Both sequences used a balanced-SSFP readout (TR/TE=3.1/1.5ms, FOV=360×337 mm², acquisition matrix=188×135, voxel size=1.9×2.5 mm², slice thickness=8 mm, number of phase-encoding lines=70, linear ordering, 10 linear ramp-up pulses, SENSE factor=2, flip angle=35/70°, bandwidth=1085Hz/pixel). T₁ scans have been acquired in the short axis views using either 1 or 3 slices for the first 20 patients. A single slice has been acquired in the four chamber orientation for the last nine patients. Three T₁ scans were acquired for each patient: one before contrast injection, and two post-contrast scans at 15±5 min and 31±6 min after contrast injection, respectively. Note that post-contrast T₁ mapping could not be performed in all patients.