Fig. 3
From: Improved dark blood imaging of the heart using radial balanced steady-state free precession
Patient with ischemic cardiomyopathy and history of coronary artery bypass grafts. Top row from left to right: systolic frame from cine bSSFP, T1-weighted fast spin-echo, T2-weighted STIR fast spin-echo. Bottom row from left to right: T1-weighted radial bSSFP, T2-weighted (T2prep time = 90 ms) radial bSSFP, delayed myocardial enhancement using inversion recovery spoiled gradient-echo. The cine image shows inferolateral left ventricular wall thinning. The T1-weighted and T2-weighted fast spin-echo images show wall thinning but are otherwise unremarkable. In comparison with fast spin-echo, T1-weighted radial bSSFP appears less blurred. T2-weighted radial bSSFP shows a distinct subendocardial T2-signal abnormality corresponding to the region of delayed enhancement, which was not prospectively identified in the fast spin-echo images. (Low signal regions in the anterior chest wall are caused by sternal wires)