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Purpose: This study is designed to test whether the increased 31P spectroscopy signal-to-noise ratio at 7T, compared to 3T field strength, improves precision in cardiac metabolite quantification in dilated cardiomyopathy patients. Methods: Ethical approval was obtained and participants provided written informed consent. In a prospective study design, matched phosphorus magnetic resonance spectra (31P-MRS) were acquired from 25 dilated cardiomyopathy patients at 3T and 7T. 10 healthy matched controls underwent 31P-MRS at 7T. Paired Student’s t-tests were performed to compare results between the 3T and 7T studies. Results: Phosphocreatine (PCr) SNR increased 2.5x at 7T relative to 3T. The phosphocreatine to adenosine triphosphate concentration ratio (PCr/ATP) was similar at both field strengths (1.48±0.44 at 3T vs 1.54±0.39 at 7T, P = 0.49), as expected. The Cramér-Rao lower bounds (CRLB) in PCr concentration (a measure of uncertainty in the measured ratio) decreased by 45% from 3T to 7T, reflecting the higher quality of 7T 31P spectra. DCM patients had a significantly lower PCr/ATP ratio than healthy control subjects at 7T (1.54 ± 0.39 vs 1.95 ± 0.25, P=0.005), consistent with previous findings. Conclusions: 7T cardiac 31P-MRS is demonstrated to be feasible in DCM patients, giving higher SNR and more precise quantification of the PCr/ATP ratio than at 3T. PCr/ATP was significantly lower in DCM patients than controls at 7T, consistent with previous findings at lower field strengths.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Radiology

Publisher

Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)

Publication Date

07/04/2016