Fig. 3

Performance of free-breathing LGE in ischemic cardiomyopathy in four different patients. 1. Seventy-year-old female with apical infarction (arrowheads) in breath-hold LGE in standard orientations (a, c, e) and reformatted two chamber (2Ch) (b) view of free-breathing LGE with identical slice thickness (10 mm) showing improved scar edge sharpness of the latter. Source images of free-breathing LGE (as acquired in transaxial plane; 0.7 mm slice thickness) reveal additional scattered hyperenhanced lesions (thin arrows) in mid-myocardial (d) and subepicardial (f) location at mid-ventricular level not visible in breath-hold LGE. 2. Forty-year-old female with anterior myocardial infarction (arrowheads) in short axis (SAx) (g, h, i) views. Compared to breath-hold LGE (g), reformatted free-breathing LGE (h: source images with 0.7 mm slice thickness, i: identical (10 mm) slice thickness as breath-hold LGE) enables improved depiction of subendocardial enhancement and assessment of transmural extent given its higher resolution and increased differentiation between blood and injured myocardium. 3. Seventy-four-year-old male with anterior myocardial infarction (arrowheads) as displayed in SAx (j, k, l) views. In comparison to breath-hold LGE (j), reformatted free-breathing LGE (k: source images with 0.7 mm slice thickness, l: identical (10 mm) slice thickness as breath-hold LGE) provides improved scar sharpness and facilitates delineation of microvascular obstruction (arrows). 4. Seventy-three-year-old male with anterior myocardial infarction (arrowheads) in SAx (m, n, o) views. Compared to breath-hold LGE (m), reformatted free-breathing LGE (n: source images with 0.7 mm slice thickness, o: identical (10 mm) slice thickness as breath-hold LGE) provides improved delineation of scar extent. Further, source images of free-breathing LGE (n) reveal an additional microinfarction basal inferoseptal (arrow) not visible in breath-hold LGE (m) or free-breathing LGE with identical slice thickness as breath-hold LGE (o).