Keywords:
Image verification, Arteriosclerosis, Aneurysms, Imaging sequences, MR-Angiography, MR, Kidney, Arteries / Aorta, Abdomen
Authors:
A. D. Sotomayor1, M. C. Sebastia2, L. Buñesch2, J. Guitart 1, R. Salvador Tarrason2, C. Nicolau2; 1Barcelona, Barcelona/ES, 2Barcelona/ES
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2013/C-1304
Purpose
The two main non-invasive imaging modalities for the evaluation of renal artery diseases are CT angiography (CTA) and contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA).
It has been well described that iodine-based contrast agents can cause deterioration in renal function associated with contrast-induced nephropathy (1,2).
Gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging had increasingly replaced CT angiography in patients with reduced renal function before the strong association between Nefrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) and gadolinium was reported in 2006 (1,2,3).
For these reason,
unenhanced MR angiography may be a better approach to prevent the potentially severe adverse effects associated with contrast materials.
One limitations of unenhanced MRA is the overestimation of stenosis caused by severe signal loss immediately distal to the stenosis secondary to reduced inflow or to intravoxel dephasing often caused by fast or complex blood flow (4).
The purpose of this study is to determine the performance of Inhance 3D Inflow IR (GE) in the depiction of the renal arteries and in the detection of main renal artery diseases.