title: Effect of contrast enhancement on the measurement of carotid arterial lumen and wall volume using MRI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast enhancement (CE) affects high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of carotid arterial wall volume.
  
  
  METHODS
  The common carotid artery (CCA), bifurcation, and internal carotid artery (ICA) of 50 consecutive patients were imaged using 1.5T MRI. T1-weighted (T1W) images were obtained before and after Gd administration. Pre- and post-CE measurements were compared among different arterial locations of the CCA, bifurcation, and ICA, and among different atherosclerotic lesion types.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In comparison to pre-CE T1W images, post-CE images showed an increase in the apparent wall volume measurement of 28.2% (108.7 mm3 vs. 84.7 mm3, P < 0.001). The post-CE measurement increases in wall volume for the CCA, bifurcation, and ICA were 26.7%, 29.2%, and 28.0%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gd CE causes a significant increase in the apparent volume of the carotid wall throughout multiple carotid artery locations, which may be associated with improved visibility or neovascularization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98103-8771, USA. bapp@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Binh An P
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Phan
authors.forename: Baocheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Kerwin
authors.forename: Dongxiang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hatsukami
authors.forename: Xue-Qiao
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000473:pathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; C064925:gadodiamide; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA