Comparison of 3D and 2D acquisition of late gadolinium enhancement in patients with acute, subacute and chronic myocardial infarction

Methods Ninety patients (84 men, age 54.4±10.8y, BMI 27.8±4.5 kg/m) with acute (n=30), subacute (n=30) and chronic (n=30) myocardial infarction were included in the study. All imaging was performed on a 1.5-T clinical MR system (Achieva, Philips Medical Systems, Best, the Netherlands). Spatial resolution was identical for 3D and 2D images (1.5 x 1.5 mm, slice thickness 8 mm, no slice gap). Image quality was graded on a five-point scale (1: excellent, 5: non-diagnostic). Quantitative analyses of myocardial mass (g), scar mass (g) and scar transmurality (five-point scale: 0: 0%; 1: <25%; 2: <50%; 3: <75%; 4: 75%-100%) were performed. Intraand interobserver agreement were assessed for 15 randomly chosen patients (5 of each group).