Abstract #3585

Neubauer S, Robson M, Clarke K, Tyler D, Francis J, Petersen S, Hudsmith L

The functional exam is the cornerstone of every cardiac MR protocol. The emergence of clinical 3T scanners provides the exciting possibility to further develop techniques which suffer from low SNR at 1.5 T (eg cardiac spectroscopy) but for 3T to be a useful cardiac tool, it must be robustly capable of performing the functional exam. We have optimised and validated the measurement of cardiac function and mass at 3T by careful comparison with routine protocols at 1.5T. We have demonstrated that although no better than 1.5T, the 3T functional exam can be used for the accurate assessment of cardiac function.