MR angiography of the lower extremities with a moving-bed infusion-tracking technique.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the value of MR angiography (MRA) with automatic table movement in a consecutive series of patients with peripheral arterial disease.


METHODS
Seventy-two patients underwent both conventional angiography (CA) and MRA for peripheral arterial occlusive disease. Both techniques were scored in a masked way. Consensus scoring for CA was compared with MRA scoring per observer. If there was a discrepancy in scoring of a segment on MRA and CA, the images were reviewed and a consensus arrived at.


RESULTS
Observer A found 7.4% and observer B found 6.5% of the segments could not be analyzed on MRA. Observer A scored 11.4% dissimilar on MRA and CA, observer B 15.2%. In the aortoiliac arteries, this was mainly caused by stents and overestimation of stenoses; in the crural arteries it resulted from underestimation of the stenoses on MRA. Overall sensitivity and specificity for the aortoiliac, femoropopliteal and crural vessels were respectively 90% and 91%, 90% and 96%, 59% and 96% for observer A, and 85% and 91%, 84% and 89%, 68% and 85% for observer B.


CONCLUSIONS
Although MRA of the lower extremities is a promising technique, improvements still need to be made. In particular, MRA below the knee is suboptimal for clinical use.
Klein
W M
WM
Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Schlejen
P M
PM
Eikelboom
B C
BC
van der Graaf
Y
Y
Mali
W P T M
WP
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; 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*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity