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Noninvasive 3.0-T MRI depicted coronary artery endothelial function
Hays A. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010;56:1657-1665.
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Researchers using 3.0-T MRI were able to noninvasively detect coronary artery area and blood flow in patients with and without coronary artery disease, according to recent findings.
“Abnormal endothelial function mediates the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis and predicts CV events. However, direct measures of coronary endothelial function have required invasive assessment,” the researchers wrote in their study.
This led them to test noninvasive 3.0-T MRI scanners in 20 healthy adults and 17 patients with CAD. The researchers measured cross-sectional coronary area and blood flow before and during isometric handgrip exercise.
MRI data from the healthy patients revealed a dilation of coronary arteries as a result of stress (P<.0001), whereas coronary artery area decreased with stress in patients with CAD (P≤.02), with both groups returning to baseline within 3 minutes of recovery. Similarly, among healthy patients, coronary blood flow increased notably with isometric handgrip (P<.0001), whereas blood flow decreased in patients with CAD (P=.01).
“The present study demonstrates that high-resolution MRI using commercial hardware and software, combined with isometric handgrip stress, provides a powerful new approach to the noninvasive assessment of endothelial-dependent coronary vasoreactivity,” the researchers said. “This approach will permit, for the first time, the direct evaluation of coronary endothelial function in low-risk populations, as well as repeated studies in patients over time.”
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