Coronary arteries: MR angiography with fast contrast-enhanced three-dimensional breath-hold imaging--initial experience.

Gadolinium-enhanced, three-dimensional, breath-hold magnetic resonance (MR) coronary angiography was performed in two healthy volunteers and 11 patients suspected or known to have coronary artery disease. MR angiograms were compared with those obtained with retrospective respiratory gating. Of 52 main coronary arteries, 47 could be visualized with the breath-hold technique and 49 with the gating technique. Signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios were significantly higher with the breath-hold technique. Overall image quality was slightly lower with breath-hold imaging. With either technique, three of five, significant coronary stenoses were correctly identified.