Need for background suppression in contrast-enhanced peripheral magnetic resonance angiography.
To determine if background suppression is beneficial for peripheral magnetic resonance angiography (pMRA), nonsubtracted, subtracted, and fat-saturated contrast-enhanced (CE) pMRA were compared in 10 patients with peripheral arterial disease. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs), as well as venous enhancement and subjective interpretability, were determined in a station-by-station fashion for each technique. In three patients X-ray angiography was available as a standard of reference. SNRs and CNRs were significantly higher for fat-saturated vs. the other two techniques (P = 0.005). Subjective interpretability was best for subtracted data sets in the lower-leg station. In the iliac station, fat-saturated data sets were considered to have significantly lower interpretability than subtracted data sets. Venous enhancement occurred significantly more often in the lower-leg station with the fat-saturated technique. The value of subtraction depends on the hardware one has available and is a useful tool if dedicated surface coils are used. Background suppression by means of magnitude subtraction leads to the best lower-leg image interpretability. Care must be taken to avoid venous enhancement in the lower-leg station when using fat saturation.
Leiner
T
T
Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Department of Radiology, Maastricht University Hospital, Maastricht, The Netherlands. tlei@rdia.azm.nl
de Weert
T T
TT
Nijenhuis
R J
RJ
Vasbinder
G B
GB
Kessels
A G
AG
Ho
K Y
KY
van Engelshoven
J M
JM
D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000503:physiopathology; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis
D003287:Contrast Media