title: 4D phase contrast MRI at 3 T: effect of standard and blood-pool contrast agents on SNR, PC-MRA, and blood flow visualization.
abstract: Time-resolved phase contrast (PC) MRI with velocity encoding in three directions (flow-sensitive four-dimensional MRI) can be employed to assess three-dimensional blood flow in the entire aortic lumen within a single measurement. These data can be used not only for the visualization of blood flow but also to derive additional information on vascular geometry with three-dimensional PC MR angiography (MRA). As PC-MRA is sensitive to available signal-to-noise ratio, standard and novel blood pool contrast agents may help to enhance PC-MRA image quality. In a group of 30 healthy volunteers, the influence of different contrast agents on vascular signal-to-noise ratio, PC-MRA quality, and subsequent three-dimensional stream-line visualization in the thoracic aorta was determined. Flow-sensitive four-dimensional MRI data acquired with contrast agent provided significantly improved signal-to-noise ratio in magnitude data and noise reduction in velocity data compared to measurements without contrast media. The agreement of three-dimensional PC-MRA with reference standard contrast-enhanced MRA was good for both contrast agents, with improved PC-MRA performance for blood pool contrast agent, particularly for the smaller supra-aortic branches. For three-dimensional flow visualization, a trend toward improved results for the data with contrast agent was observed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Medical Physics, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. jelena.bock@uniklinik-freiburg.de
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bock
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frydrychowicz
authors.forename: Aurélien F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Stalder
authors.forename: Thorsten A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Bley
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Burkhardt
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hennig
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Markl
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D001011:Aorta / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D005682:Gadolinium; 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; D008536:Meglumine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; C064572:gadobenic acid; D008536:Meglumine; D005682:Gadolinium; C109932:gadofosveset trisodium