Background: The purpose of the study was to explore a "dark blood" technique and to compare it with a standard inversion recovery gradient echo (IR GRE) sequence in the visualization of myocardial infarction.
Patients and methods: A total of 9 patients were examined with standard IR GRE and a "dark blood" sequence 15 mins after contrast medium application (0.2 mmol/kg body weight gadobenate dimeglumine). Contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were calculated for each sequence.
Results: The CNR(inf-lvc) was significantly higher in the "dark blood" technique compared to the IR GRE sequence, while the CNR(inf-myo) was significantly lower.
Conclusions: Small subendocardial infarctions may be easier to detect with the "dark blood" technique. However, the standard IR GRE sequence is superior in the demarcation of infarctions in relation to the myocardium and cannot be replaced by the "dark blood" technique.