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Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography developments in imaging of venous thromboembolism
Author(s) -
van Langevelde Kirsten,
Tan Melanie,
Šrámek Alexandr,
Huisman Menno V.,
de Roos Albert
Publication year - 2010
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.22379
Subject(s) - medicine , radiology , pulmonary embolism , magnetic resonance imaging , computed tomography , pulmonary angiography , thrombosis , medical imaging , venous thrombosis , angiography , magnetic resonance angiography , surgery
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a disease that causes high morbidity and mortality in the population. At present the first‐line imaging test for a suspected pulmonary embolism (PE) is computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography, and ultrasonography is widely used for the diagnosis of deep‐vein thrombosis (DVT). Although these modalities are proven to be safe and accurate, unresolved issues remain, such as whether CT scanning in patients with a suspected PE should be extended to the legs. Another issue is the diagnosis of recurrent DVT. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers a number of advantages in the imaging of VTE. Recent developments of scanning protocols with shorter acquisition times, sometimes complemented by navigator gating or making use of endogenous contrast, offer new perspectives for the use of MRI. This review provides an overview of state of the art MRI techniques for the diagnosis of PE and DVT. Furthermore, the use of new contrast agents such as fibrin labeling to detect thrombi are addressed. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010;32:1302–1312. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.