title: MR angiography of the extracranial carotid arteries using a two-slab oblique 3-D acquisition.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe an oblique, two-slab 3-D acquisition technique for MR angiography of the extracranial carotid arteries, an approach chosen to minimize saturation effects when the body coil is used as transmitter, as is often the situation when a dedicated neck coil is used as receiver.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five healthy subjects and 17 patients in whom carotid artery disease was suspected underwent MR angiography using the above technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Flow contrast was much better than in direct sagittal acquisition. Comparisons between multislab transverse 3-D acquisition and the oblique approach showed that a greater length of the carotid arteries was depicted and scan time was less for oblique acquisitions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of oblique imaging is a simple and effective solution to the problem of coil-related saturation effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA 02215.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kleefield
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Edelman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged