Optimising acquisition parameters for myocardial T2 mapping using T2-prep at 3T

Background T2 mapping using T2-prepared SSFP at 1.5T has been shown to be sensitive to oedema in acute myocardial infarction[1]. At 3T, other studies have addressed the problem of the T2 prep module’s sensitivity to the increased B1 inhomogeneity[2]. However, a second problem is that the lengthened T1 at 3T can reduce the contrast between normal and oedematous myocardium, as well as introducing heart rate variability in measured T2. We set out to develop a protocol which maximised the difference between measured T2 in normal and oedematous tissue, while minimising the heart-rate dependence of the measured T2.