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Time‐resolved contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance angiography in pediatric patients using sensitivity encoding
Author(s) -
Muthupillai Raja,
Vick Giles W.,
Flamm Scott D.,
Chung Taylor
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.10292
Subject(s) - flip angle , magnetic resonance angiography , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear medicine , voxel , medicine , nuclear magnetic resonance , sensitivity (control systems) , contrast (vision) , partial volume , radiology , physics , optics , electronic engineering , engineering
Abstract Purpose To evaluate the role of time‐resolved contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE‐MRA) using sensitivity encoding in imaging the thoraco‐abdominal vessels in pediatric patients. Materials and Methods Thoraco‐abdominal vessels of 22 pediatric patients (median age = 5 years) were evaluated with a 3D CE‐MRA technique in combination with SENSE following a 0.2 mmol/kg injection of Gd‐chelate. The acquisition parameters were as follows: TR/TE = 5/1.1 msec; flip angle = 40°; in‐plane phase encoding steps were reduced by a factor of 2 using sensitivity encoding (SENSE); 3D volume acquisition was repeated four to eight times consecutively during free breathing (four to eight dynamics) with a mean temporal resolution of 6.8 seconds/dynamic; and mean acquired voxel size = 1.4 × 1.7 × 3.1 mm (reconstructed as 1.4 × 1.4 × 1.55 mm). Arterial‐to‐venous signal intensity ratios (AVRs) were computed for each dynamic. Results All images were successfully reconstructed and were of diagnostic quality. The AVRs of prepeak, peak, and postpeak arterial volumes were 1.0 ± 0.5, 6.1 ± 3.3, and 1.3 ±0.9, respectively, indicating good arterial‐to‐venous separation. The signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) of the peak arterial volume was 41 ± 26. Conclusion Our results suggest that it is feasible to apply SENSE to a conventional 3D CE‐MRA technique in a time‐resolved fashion for imaging the thoraco‐abdominal vessels in pediatric patients during free breathing. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2003;17:559–564. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.