title: Renal artery blood flow: quantitation with phase-contrast MR imaging with and without breath holding.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the accuracy of 16-frame cine phase-contrast (PC) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with those of two breath-hold PC techniques in the measurement of renal artery blood flow.
  
  
  METHODS
  In vitro flow measurements were performed in a segment of harvested human artery embedded in gel. For the cine PC acquisition, respiratory motion was simulated. In eight subjects with recently obtained para-amino-hippurate-clearance renal blood flow data, renal artery flow measurements were subsequently performed with two breath-hold imaging techniques and with cine PC imaging during shallow respiration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Breath-hold sequences were significantly more accurate than conventional cine PC sequences both in vitro (P < .005) and in vivo (P < .05). Cine PC imaging tended to overestimate flow (in vivo mean, 24.47% +/- 9.94), reflecting artifactual enlargement of the apparent vessel size.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Reliable blood flow measurements in the renal artery are possible with breath-hold PC MR imaging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Calif.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Debatin
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Ting
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wegmüller
authors.forename: F G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Sommer
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Fredrickson
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Brosnan
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.forename: B D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Herfkens
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Pelc
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008961:Models, Structural; D012077:Renal Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D012082:Renal Veins / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D012119:Respiration