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MR flow quantification using race: Clinical application to the carotid arteries
Author(s) -
Möller Harald E.,
Klocke HansKristian,
Bongartz Georg M.,
Peters Peter E.
Publication year - 1996
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.1880060314
Subject(s) - medicine , carotid bifurcation , hemodynamics , blood flow , cardiac cycle , imaging phantom , angiography , cardiology , radiology , carotid arteries , nuclear medicine
Real time MR flow quantification was performed with real time acquisition and evaluation of motion (RACE) in a rigid phantom under steady flow conditions and in the common carotid arteries of 43 subjects aged 24–78 years. Hemodynamic information included the intraluminal velocity distribution during the complete cardiac cycle, the distensibility of the arterial wall, and age‐dependent changes of the flow curves. Systolic peak velocities of 51 ± 33 cm/s and time‐averaged volume flow rates of 4.3 ± 2.0 ml/s were measured in healthy subjects. Flow rates below 3.0 ml/s and the observation of abnormal flow patterns indicated stenoses greater than 70% in the region of the bifurcation (sensitivity: 83.3%; specificity: 93.7%; accuracy: 71.4%). Improvements may be achieved from a combination with MR angiography, providing both functional and morphologic vascular information noninvasively within one observer‐independent examination. MR imaging, therefore, has a strong potential for the diagnosis of critical stenoses in symptomatic patients.