Magnetic Resonance Angiography

Abstract

Angiography generally refers to any imaging method that can visualize blood vessels. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is a class of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques that create blood vessel images. During the past decade, there has been a tremendous amount of development and refinement in MRA techniques, making MRA a powerful tool in the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. In most of the cases, MRA techniques are applied noninvasively, without the use of ionizing radiation. The inherent advantages of MR imaging (noninvasive, flow sensitive, high soft tissue contrast, and flexible imaging approaches) make it ideally suited to the study of the vasculature in almost any part of the human body. MRA presents a wide spectrum of techniques for the study of flowing blood: different methods for high spatial resolution, high temporal resolution, velocity sensitization, flow quantification, and visualizing pulsatility. This article addresses the basic principles of MRA and describes its applications.