Feasibility and Robustness of 3T Magnetic Resonance Angiography Using Modified Dixon Fat Suppression in Patients With Known or Suspected Peripheral Artery Disease

oleh: Karl Jakob Weiss, Karl Jakob Weiss, Holger Eggers, Christian Stehning, Marc Kouwenhoven, Mithal Nassar, Mithal Nassar, Mithal Nassar, Burkert Pieske, Burkert Pieske, Burkert Pieske, Philipp Stawowy, Philipp Stawowy, Bernhard Schnackenburg, Sebastian Kelle, Sebastian Kelle, Sebastian Kelle

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-10-01

Deskripsi

Objective: Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) is a well-established non-invasive imaging technique for the assessment of peripheral artery disease (PAD). A subtractionless method using modified Dixon (mDixon) fat suppression showed superior image quality at 1.5T over the common subtraction method, using a three-positions stepping table approach with a single dose of contrast agent. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of subtractionless first-pass peripheral MRA at 3T in patients with known or suspected PAD and to compare the performance in terms of vessel-to-background contrast (VBC), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and subjective image quality to conventional subtraction MRA.Methods: Ten patients [mean age 69 years ± 12 standard deviation (SD)] with known or suspected PAD were examined on a clinical 3T scanner (Ingenia, Philips Healthcare, Best, Netherlands) at three table positions using subtractionless and subtraction first-pass peripheral MRA. Two readers rated image quality on a four- point scale. Interobserver agreement was expressed in quadratic weighted κ values. VBC was assessed with a semi-automated process and SNR was compared in a healthy volunteer.Results: Subjective image quality was significantly better with the subtractionless method overall (mean image quality for mDixon imaging: 2.88 ± 0.32 SD vs. for subtraction imaging: 2.57 ± 0.48 SD; P < 0.001) and per table position (abdominal position: 2.88 ± 0.32 vs. 2.57 ± 0.48 SD; P < 0.001); upper leg position: (2.97 ± 0.15 SD vs. 2.68 ± 0.37 SD; P < 0.001; lower leg position: 2.60 ± 0.50 SD vs. 2.13 ± 0.60 SD; P < 0.001). Vessel-to-background contrast increased by 22% with the subtractionless method overall (mean VBC for mDixon imaging: 23.16 ± 8.4 SD vs. for subtraction imaging: 19.00 ± 8.1 SD; factor 1.22, P < 0.001). SNR was 82% higher with the subtractionless method (overall SNR gain 1.82; P < 0.001).Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility and robustness of subtractionless first-pass peripheral MRA at 3T in patients with known or suspected PAD using a three- positions stepping table approach with a single dose of contrast agent. It showed increased image quality compared to the conventional subtraction method and superior performance in terms of SNR and vessel-to-background contrast.