Infusion-tracking CE-MRA Of The Lower Extremity Arteries

Objective To study the method of infusion-tracking three-dimensional CE-MRA and its clinical application on the lower extremity artery. Materials and MethodsNineteen patients with suspicion of pelvis and lower extremity artery disease were performed infusion-tracking contrast enhanced MRA with Smartprep technology. The 3D data were acquired in three consecutive imaging segments (pelvis, thighs, legs) by the bed movement methods during bolus injection of 30 ml Gd-DTPA at a flow rate 2.0ml/sec using power injector. Thirteen of 19 cases underwent manually table movement and 6 cases underwent automanually table movement. All of the three segments targeted views were reconstructed with the maximum intensity projection (MIP) algorithm and multiplanar reconstruction (MPR). The MIP and MPR images and raw data in all of the patients were analyzed together. All of the cases were diagnosed by two doctors in double-blind method before the imaging quality was evaluated. According to the surgical findings and/or digital subtraction angiography (DSA), the diagnostic value of infusion-tracking CE-MRA on pelvis and lower extremity artery disease were evaluated. Results 19 cases with various vascular diseases were diagnosed by CE-MRA, all cases were proved by surgical findings and/or the DSA findings. There were no the statistical significant difference(x2 = 0.95, .P>0.05) in the imaging quality between using two table movement methods. Conclusion Infusion-tracking CE-MRA has high diagnostic accuracy in patients with pelvis and lower extremity artery disease.