Quantitative Characterization of Myocardial Reperfusion Injury via Push-Button Delayed-Phase Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced (dDCE) MRI

Motivation: A quantitative tool to characterize tissue composition and microvascular integrity is desired for assessing post-MI tissue injury and guide the management of acute myocardial infarction. Goal(s): Develop a clinically viable method using a delayed-phase dynamic contrast enhancement (dDCE) model for quantitative assessment of myocardial injury post-MI. Approach: A free-running with a low-rank tensor (LRT) framework was developed to enable whole-heart quantitative contrast dynamic imaging during contrast washout. Combined with DCE model, physiological parameters were derived to assess myocardial injury. Results: The 3D LRT-dDCE maps correlated well with conventional 2D breath-hold methods, identifying abnormal microvascular permeability and increased extracellular volume in the MI zone. Impact: LRT-dDCE demonstrated the potential of a clinically viable sequence to quantitativelyassess myocardial injury. The dDCE parameters can potentially provide detailedinsights post-ischemic impact and during tissue healing.