Abstract #4453

On the T1 of Fat Calculated from a Segmented Look Locker Scout Scan & Its Implications in Cardiac Imaging

Neville D. Gai¹, Christian Stehning², Saman Nazarian³, Evrim Turkbey¹, David A. Bluemke^1,4

¹Radiology & Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States; ²Philips Research Europe, Hamburg, Germany; ³Division of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, United States; ⁴NIBIB, Bethesda, MD, United States

T1 mapping can differentiate between diffuse fibrosis and normal myocardium. Several longitudinal cardiac studies do not have a dedicated T1 mapping scan as part of the protocol. However, segmented Look-Locker (LL) with b-SSFP is typically used as a scout scan. T1 values may then be derived from such a scan. Certain diseases exhibit fatty infiltration as part of their etiology. Based on simulations and scanning, we show that fat T1 quantification so obtained can be highly erroneous based on the scan parameters used. Therefore, conclusions based on observed cardiac T1 values in cases where fatty infiltration is substantial might be fraught with complications.