Centrally fat-saturated three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography of the abdomen using selective central fat-saturation of k-space.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the usefulness of centrally fat-saturated three-dimensional magnetic resonance (MR) angiography of the abdomen using an elliptical centric view order and selective placement of fat-saturation pulses in the central 30% portion of the k-space in terms of fat signal reduction, image contrast of post-contrast images, and breath-holding time.


METHODS
Fat signal in abdomen and breath-holding time were compared between centrally fat-saturated three-dimensional sequence and partially fat-saturated three-dimensional sequence or conventional fat-saturated three-dimensional sequence. Abdominal contrast-enhanced centrally fat-saturated three-dimensional MR angiography was obtained at arterial and equilibrium phases, and image quality was quantitatively and visually evaluated.


RESULTS
Centrally fat-saturated three-dimensional sequence suppressed fat signal, as did the conventional fat-saturated three-dimensional sequence, and the breath-hold was prolonged only by 1.5 seconds compared to the partially fat-saturated three-dimensional sequence. Contrast-enhanced centrally fat-saturated three-dimensional MR angiography provided abdominal MR arteriography with large signal difference between vessels and fat, while venous signal was insufficient at equilibrium phase.


CONCLUSIONS
Abdominal contrast-enhanced centrally fat-saturated three-dimensional MR angiography using an elliptical centric view order and selective central fat-saturation of k-space reduced fat signal comparable to conventional fat-saturated three-dimensional sequence, and provided contrast-enhanced MR arteriography with high vascular contrast and minimum prolongation of breath-hold.
Department of Radiology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan. ya-amano@nms.ac.jp
Yasuo
Y
Amano
Katsuya
K
Takahama
Tsuyoshi
T
Matsuda
Maki
M
Amano
Tatsuo
T
Kumazaki
D000005:Abdomen / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D003287:Contrast Media; C064925:gadodiamide; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA