Initial results of a new very rapid rest/regadenoson stress myocardial perfusion protocol in patients with atrial fibrillation

Background Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) myocardial perfusion is a well established method for detection of significant obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). In patients with arrhythmias, standard methods using ECGgating can result in poor image quality. Additionally, with typical stress/rest protocols, a true rest state may not be achieved after administration of regadenoson. However, rest-first may present issues with peri-infarct ischemia and so here we give little time for late enhancement by keeping rest and stress perfusion scans close in time. Given these issues, the two-fold aim of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of a rapid rest-first protocol using an ungated myocardial image pulse sequence.