Sparsity-based Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cardiac Arrhythmias

Sparsity-based Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cardiac Arrhythmias

The primary purpose of this study is to improve the quality of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in patients with heart arrhythmia. Investigators will recruit 105 patients with arrhythmia and 30 control volunteers over 3 years and will use two arrhythmia-tolerant imaging methods for diagnosis.

In the proposed research, investigators will extend conventional cardiac magnetic resonance methods to enable the creation of high-quality cine CMR images in the presence of multiple kinds of arrhythmia. Two arrhythmia-tolerant imaging methods will be adopted, which are particularly useful in arrhythmia: 1) 3D imaging, which is useful for many purposes, including "road mapping" of electrophysiology (EP) procedures, and 2) late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), which is useful for delineating abnormal myocardium, including fibrotic regions that can serve as sources of arrhythmias.

Inclusion Criteria for Arrhythmia Patients:

• Patients diagnosed with heart arrhythmia scheduled for routine clinical MRI examinations).
• Patients scheduled for routine clinical MRI examinations who do not have a specific known diagnosis of arrhythmia, but who may be found to have image degradation due to arrhythmia during the CMR examination.

Inclusion Criteria for Controls:

• No history of heart arrhythmia.

Exclusion Criteria for Patients and Controls:

• Hemodynamic instability.

• Contraindications for MRI examinations (e.g., pacemakers or ferromagnetic vascular clips).

• History of prior cardiovascular disease or significant risk factors:

  • Diabetes, hypertension, smoking, and hyperlipidemia, etc.