Comparison of a novel free breathing SSFP sequence with standard breath held SSFP- a pilot study

Background Despite advances in magnetic resonance imaging hardware and software, the acquisition of optimal cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images may be hampered by several factors. Most notably, scan length, the requirement for multiple breath holds and cardiac gating can all impact upon image quality. Real time cardiac imaging holds promise for reducing scan times via rapid acquisitions of images that are not reliant on breath holding or cardiac gating. Recently, a novel free breathing SSFP sequence was made available as part of a pre-release version of the HeartVista Cardiac Package, Version 1.0.0 (HeartVista, Inc.). Our goal was to compare the assessment of LV function between the HeartVista free breathing SSFP (FB-SSFP) sequence and standard FIESTA breath held SSFP.