title: Deep vein thrombosis using noncontrast-enhanced MR venography with electrocardiographically gated three-dimensional half-Fourier FSE: preliminary experience.
abstract: Three noncontrast-enhanced MR venography techniques are presented for assessing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) at 0.5 T in patients with metallic implants. Two cardiac-gated 3D half-Fourier FSE fresh blood imaging sequences with flow-refocusing pulses (FR-FBI) in the read-out (RO) direction and without FR pulses (non-FR-FBI) were developed for slower-flowing blood. For faster flowing blood, a swap phase-encode arterial double-subtraction elimination (SPADE) technique was developed. The three techniques were assessed both quantitatively using signal-to-noise (SNR) and contrast-noise-ratio (CNR) measurements and qualitatively by subjective image analysis in 15 volunteers. SPADE was compared to FR-FBI in the pelvic veins and FR-FBI was compared to non-FR-FBI in the thigh and calf veins. Both SPADE and FR-FBI techniques produced significantly higher SNRs, CNRs, and image quality in each comparative study (P<0.001). Five patients with metallic implants and confirmed DVT underwent SPADE (pelvic veins) and FR-FBI (thigh and calf veins) examinations and the results were compared to conventional venography. The SPADE and FR-FBI images showed all DVTs from all five patients without interference from implant susceptibility artifacts. The excellent image quality produced by both SPADE and FR-FBI throughout peripheral vasculature demonstrates their promise for detecting DVT in postsurgery patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Engineering, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.forename: Kenya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murase
authors.forename: Toshitaka
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Shibutani
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takata
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kobashi
authors.forename: Mitsue
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D055424:Cardiac-Gated Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010690:Phlebography / Q000379:methods; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media