Micro magnetic resonance angiography of the finger in systemic sclerosis.
OBJECTIVE
To characterize vascular lesions in SSc disease with high-resolution magnetic resonance angiography (Micro-MRA) of the finger.


METHODS
Eight SSc subjects and eight age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited for this study. Among the SSc subjects, the mean +/- s.d. age was 54.5 +/- 4.9 yrs, and the mean +/- s.d. duration of disease was 8.3 +/- 8.4 yrs. The numbers of SSc subjects that had telangiectasia, calcinosis and impaired finger flexion were 3, 2 and 3, respectively. The 2D time-of-flight micro-MRA was performed on a 3T clinical MRI scanner using a custom-designed finger coil with an in-plane resolution of 0.16 x 0.21 mm(2) and slice thickness of 1.2 mm. The data for the proper palmar digital artery lumen area, the number of visible dorsal digital veins and a semi-quantitative vascular score, which evaluates the overall integrity of digital vessels, were independently evaluated by two experienced reviewers who were blinded to the status of the subject.


RESULTS
Micro-MRA detected significant differences in the digital vasculature between SSc subjects and healthy volunteers. The SSc subjects had a significantly decreased digital artery lumen area (0.13 +/- 0.06 vs 0.53 +/- 0.26 mm(2), P < 0.001), a reduced number of digital veins (0.63 +/- 1.06 vs 3.13 +/- 0.99, P = 0.001) and a lowered overall vascular score (1.75 +/- 1.04 vs 3.5 +/- 0.53, P = 0.001). The study also found that both the digital artery lumen area (Pearson's; r = -0.72, P = 0.044) and vascular scores (Spearman's; rho = -0.75, P = 0.047) of the SSc subjects were inversely correlated with the duration of the disease.


CONCLUSIONS
Micro-MRA can be used to identify and quantitatively characterize the vascular disease in SSc fingers. The parameters derived from micro-MRA could potentially be used as prospective biomarkers for clinical evaluation.
Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, USA. jnwang@u.washington.edu
J
J
Wang
V L
VL
Yarnykh
J A
JA
Molitor
R A
RA
Nash
B
B
Chu
G J
GJ
Wilson
J
J
Fleming
S M
SM
Schwartz
C
C
Yuan
D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000098:blood supply*; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors