Inflammatory abdominal aortic aneurysms: diagnosis with gadolinium enhanced T1-weighted imaging.
OBJECTIVE
Inflammatory abdominal aortic aneurysms (IAAA) are a variant of abdominal aortic aneurysms, which are associated with an increased morbidity. The diagnosis of IAAA has traditionally been established with a combination of clinical and laboratory findings together with contrast enhanced CT. There is a high incidence of renal impairment in this group, and therefore contrast enhanced CT may be harmful.


METHODS
Five patients with IAAA underwent T1-weighted spin echo and gradient echo gadolinium enhanced abdominal MRI. A total of eight examinations were performed, including three patients who underwent repeat MRI following steroid therapy.


RESULTS
The inflammatory cuff was clearly identified following gadolinium administration in all eight examinations. The cuff enhanced homogeneously in all patients with no alteration in appearance following steroid therapy. The intravenous administration of gadolinium DTPA enabled clearer definition of locally involved structures.


CONCLUSIONS
Gadolinium enhanced MRI readily demonstrates features of IAAA. In view of potential renal impairment in this patient group, we recommend this technique in preference to contrast enhanced CT in the initial investigation of inflammatory abdominal aortic aneurysms.
Wallis
F
F
The Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, Scotland, U.K.
Roditi
G H
GH
Redpath
T W
TW
Weir
J
J
Cross
K S
KS
Smith
F W
FW
D000368:Aged; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D001025:Aortitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005682:Gadolinium; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D003287:Contrast Media; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D005682:Gadolinium