title: Measuring the diameter of coronary arteries on MR angiograms using spatial profile curves.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The spatial profile curve of the nuclear MR intensity across the short axis of a coronary artery in an MR angiogram results in a gradual up-and-down slope lacking sharp definition, which indicates that display parameters may influence edge recognition. Therefore, our study was designed to determine the appropriate window setting and to devise a method of accurately measuring the diameter or width of the artery independent of window parameters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The diameter of a coronary artery measured on MR coronary arteriography significantly varied with experimentally selected display parameters. When compared with the diameter on contrast-enhanced coronary arteriograms, the window center on MR angiograms at the midpoint between the peak intensity of the intravascular lumen and the background intensity and the window width of a quarter or a half of the intensity difference between the two were proven to be appropriate. The angiographic diameter corresponded to the diameter obtained at 65% +/- 9% of the peak intensity on the spatial profile curve across the short-axis MR coronary angiogram. Accordingly, 65% of the peak intensity indicates the diameter of the coronary artery. Thus, the intensity profile curve independent of the window setting provided a new method for measurement of the diameter of the coronary artery.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shimamoto
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujimori
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomaru
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toyo-oka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation