Aortic diseases--do we need MR techniques?

MR with its various imaging protocols including spin-echo MR-imaging, gradient MR imaging, flow-mapping and MR angiography is the ideal tool for noninvasive assessment of any kind of aortic diseases. The technique allows to image the aorta both in the thoracic cage and in the abdominal aspects better than any other tomographic image modality. With the capability of angiography after intravenous injection of gadolinium even the information previously only obtained from invasive catheter-based studies is now available within minutes after an intravenous injection. The overview manuscript compares various clinical settings of aortic diseases as assessed by various imaging modalities and highlights the capability of MR-imaging for aortic diseases both in the chronic and the acute clinical setting.