Accelerated Contrast-Enhanced High Resolution Whole Heart Cardiac MRI

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in the United States, even though
significant efforts have been made in prevention and diagnosis. The clinical gold standard
for diagnosis of CAD is catheter-based invasive x-ray angiography, performed more than a
million times per year. Of these examinations, up to 35% have been found to have no
significant stenosis, yet these patients had to go through the potential risks and
complications of an invasive test that further exposes the patient to ionizing radiation and
iodinated contrast. Thus, non-invasive diagnostic alternatives are highly desirable.

Cardiac MRI (CMR) provides a method for a comprehensive non-invasive cardiac exam, including
contractile functional assessment (cine) to detect wall-motion abnormality, myocardial CMR
perfusion for diagnosing perfusion defects, viability assessment using late gadolinium
enhancement for evaluation of acute and chronic myocardial infarction, and coronary MRI for
the identification of stenosis. CMR is advantageous in several respects, since it does not
require ionizing radiation or iodinated contrast, thereby facilitating repeated or follow-up
scanning. However, long data acquisition time remains as one of its main limitations. Several
approaches have been studied to facilitate rapid CMR acquisition. Nonetheless, the
acquisition time for high-resolution CMR remains long, and spatial and temporal resolution is
traded off for acquisition time. Therefore, developments of methods to reduce the duration of
data acquisition beyond what is available now are appealing. The investigators will develop
novel reconstruction methodologies for high-resolution CMR that learn the anatomical
structures in the images being reconstructed. The investigators will validate these
techniques in a range of contrast-enhanced CMR imaging protocols, providing better volumetric
coverage of the heart, efficient use of the contrast agents, and higher spatial and temporal
resolution.

Inclusion Criteria:

- "Healthy" subjects 18 years and older

- Cardiovascular disease patients referred from the Department of Cardiology, who do not
meet any of the exclusion criteria.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Exclusion criteria include those associated with the use of MR as the imaging
modality. Patients with pacemakers, implanted cardioverter-defibrillators,
intracerebral clips or other implants that are not MR incompatible, atrial flutter or
frequent atrial or ventricular ectopic activity, weight over 250 pounds, or
significant claustrophobia will be excluded.

- Subjects should not have the following which may be hazardous to their health or
interfere with MRI examinations: cardiac pacemaker; implanted cardiac defibrillator;
carotid artery vascular clamp; intravascular stents, filters, or coils; aortic clip;
internal pacing wires; vascular access port and/or catheter; Swan-Ganz catheter; shunt
(spinal or intraventricular); aneurysm clip(s); neurostimulator; electrodes (on body,
head, or brain);heart valve prosthesis; any type of prosthesis (eye, penile, etc.);
artificial limb or joint replacement; bone growth/fusion stimulator; bone/joint pin,
screw, nail, wire, plate; metal rods in bones; Harrington rods (spine); metal or wire
mesh implants; wire sutures or surgical staples; insulin pump or infusion device; any
metal fragments (i.e. metal shop); any implant held in place by a magnet; cochlear,
otologic, or ear implant.