Abnormalities of the pulmonary veins: evaluation with MR imaging and comparison with cardiac angiography and echocardiography

Article Abstract:

Pulmonary vein abnormalities may accompany cardiac abnormalities or mimic the symptoms of them. Because of difficulties encountered using present diagnostic imaging techniques, pulmonary vein abnormalities may go undetected. This study examined using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging as a noninvasive way to evaluate pulmonary veins. MR imaging is a technique that uses the magnetic properties of tissues to produce images of them. MR imaging of pulmonary veins was performed on 77 patients; 56 had congenital heart disease and no pulmonary vein abnormalities and 21 had various pulmonary vein abnormalities. These patients were also evaluated with two standard diagnostic techniques, echocardiography and cardiac angiography. All four pulmonary veins were identifiable with MR imaging in 49 of the 56 patients who had normal veins, and the connections of three or four veins were detected in all 56. MR imaging was able to identify 21 of 22 (95 percent) pulmonary vein abnormalities in the group of patients who had them. Cardiac angiography and echocardiography were performed on 13 of the 21 patients. These techniques were only able to detect 69 percent and 38 percent of the abnormalities, respectively. These results indicate that MR imaging is useful for imaging the pulmonary veins and the abnormalities that may afflict them. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Abnormalities, Pulmonary veins, Pulmonary vein

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MR imaging of motion with spatial modulation of magnetization

Article Abstract:

A technique potentially useful for studying heart wall motion (contraction) is proposed for application with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Direct demonstration of the contraction of the heart has proven to be difficult with MR. Most imaging techniques only show the inner or outer surfaces of the heart, but not the motion of the heart muscle itself (myocardium). Conventional MR and computed tomography (CT) imaging can show the wall thickness but not motion within the wall. The technique proposed by the researchers permits magnetic labeling of the myocardium to directly demonstrate myocardial motion across its thickness and at many locations in the heart. A three-dimensional imaging technique is required in order to prevent MR images of curved heart surfaces from being confused with myocardial motion. The proposed technique, SPAMM (spatial modulation of magnetization), is believed to provide a simple and effective means of directly demonstrating cardiac motion. It is also useful in studying blood flow, cerebrospinal fluid movement, and in evaluating blood flowing through a clotted vessel.

Research, Blood flow, Heart contraction, Magnetic properties, Heart muscle, Myocardium, Contrast media, Contrast media (Chemicals), Medical imaging equipment, Cerebrospinal fluid

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Heart wall motion: improved method of spatial modulation of magnetization for MR imaging

Article Abstract:

Studies of wall motion are reliable measures of the functional state of the heart. There are many diagnostic techniques available to accomplish this type of evaluation: angiography; radionuclide blood pool imaging, cross-sectional imaging with ultrasound, ultra-fast computed tomography, or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses. The strength of MR imaging is its depiction of regional wall thickness of the heart. MR offers the advantage of being noninvasive. A new method of MR heart wall motion diagnosis has overcome one of the original limitations of the technique that produced an MR image of the heart in its sinus node that was difficult to interpret. Research has yielded an improved version of the original method, called spatial modulation of magnetization (SPAMM). This will produce MR heart wall motion images with better clarity.

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