AE: Imaging sequences for first pass perfusionA review

Myocardial perfusion imaging sequences and analysis techniques continue to improve. We review the state-of-the-art in cardiovascular magnetic resonance first pass perfusion pulse se-quences including the application of parallel imaging. There are a wide range of sequence designs and parameters to consider when optimizing an acquisition protocol. The interdepen-dence of these parameters forces the user to make compromises. We describe the technical issues and provide insights into the various performance tradeoffs. We also review the basic de-sign for T1-weighted first pass myocardial perfusion imaging and go on to discuss the tradeoffs associated with various schemes to provide multi-slice coverage. Artifact mechanisms are dis-cussed and related to sequence design and parameters. The selection of quantitative versus qualitative analysis affects various performance requirements, such as spatial and temporal resolution and linearity of enhancement. Understanding the interaction between the pulse se-quence parameters and resulting image quality is important for improving myocardial perfusion imaging