Intracranial circulation: preliminary clinical results with three-dimensional (volume) MR angiography.

Abstract

The authors assessed the clinical utility of a magnetic resonance angiography technique in the evaluation of intracranial circulation. Eighteen patients with a low likelihood of cerebrovascular disease (control group) and 40 patients with suspected cerebrovascular disease were imaged with a FISP (fast imaging with steady precession) sequence (repetition time of 50 msec, echo time of 15 msec, velocity compensation in the read and section-select directions with acceleration compensation in the read direction, 15 degrees anisotropic volume, and a 1.25-mm partition thickness). Ninety-four percent of images in the control group and 72% of images in the group with cerebrovascular disease were considered useful for diagnosis. This technique can provide accurate images of intracranial circulation and can be performed in conjunction with two-dimensional spin-echo or gradient-echo imaging. It was most useful in the evaluation of patent intracranial aneurysms, vessel displacement, and large-vessel occlusive disease. Disadvantages included limited field of view, persistent signal voids, limited spatial resolution, and inadequate depiction of lesions with slow flow.

Primary bone tumors: value of MR angiography for preoperative planning and monitoring response to chemotherapy.

“…[2][3][4][5]. MR angiognaphy has been applied extensively in imaging the CNS [6] and the body [7] and recently has also been used for evaluating peripheral circulation and vascular disease in the extremities [8]. …”

Simultaneous acquisition of MR angiography and venography (MRAV)

“…MRV provides unique insight into the pathology and additional diagnostic information on arteriovenous malformation (2,4), brain tumors (6), stroke and hemorrhage (7), multiple sclerosis (8), cavernous and venous angiomas (9), venous sinus thrombosis (9), and traumatic brain injury (10). MRV has also shown to be sensitive in detecting abnormal iron deposition in the iron-related brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (11).MR angiography (MRA) based on the time-of-flight (TOF) contrast (12), on the other hand, provides excellent details of arterial vasculature and is routinely used in clinical brain exams (13,14). Intracranial and cervical MRA at 3T has shown increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and improved delineation of arterial lesions compared to that at 1.5T (15).…”

MR angiography with gadopentetate dimeglumine-polylysine: evaluation in rabbits.

“…The TOF technique is one approach to MR angiography [1] that has been incorporated in 3-D sequences and is currently under clinical evaluation [4][5][6]. The major drawback of TOF techniques is the progressive saturation of the inflowing spins, which becomes the limiting factor when a large anatomic area has to be covered.…”