Fig. 6

Correlation of native contrast T1w imaging to histology for chemoablation (orange arrows). T1-enhancement and necrosis correlate well, making assessment of chemoablation lesion extent reliable with T1w imaging. Contrast in in vivo (a) and ex vivo (b) T1w imaging depends on reduction of T1 relaxation time. The region of T1w enhancement correlates well with the pathology lesion (c) and necrotic lesion with deeper purple trichrome stain on histology (d). Closer observation of the lesion periphery (e) reveals a core of coagulation necrosis (f) with a small transition band composed of contraction band necrosis (g, + mark) and significant number of extravasated red blood cells (g, yellow arrows) before reaching normal myocardium (h). Compared to RF ablation, for chemoablation the entire extent of necrosis observed under histology correlates better with the enhancing region on T1w imaging. The asterisk (*) in (e) marks the likely needle track with hemorrhage and coagulated red blood cells