Jacob Fluckiger1,
Daniel Lee1
1Northwestern
University, Chicago, IL, United States
Three different methods for correcting myocardial signal saturation in first pass perfusion MRI are tested in canine models of coronary artery disease. Following signal correction, myocardial blood flow is quantified and results are compared with microsphere flow. Using a contrast agent dose of 0.05 mmol/kg, uncorrected myocardial signal time courses underestimated flow values by 10% or more when the microsphere flow was greater than 4 ml/min/gm. Two of the three correction methods tested returned flow values that were not significantly different from microsphere flow.