PURPOSE: Comparison of two different types of contrast-enhanced 3D-MR angiography (CE-MRA) with integrated parallel acquisition technique (iPAT) in patients with chronic-thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and evaluation whether sagittal acquisition with higher resolution and minimized acquisition time is superior to common coronal orientation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CE-MRA was performed on 15 patients with CTEPH preoperatively and on 10 patients also postoperatively, while 5 other patients received only a postoperative MRA. All 30 MR studies with one coronal and two sagittal acquisitions were blindly evaluated and compared. The resolution of coronal and sagittal MRA was 1.3 x 0.6 x 1.4 mm (3) and 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.2 mm (3), and acquisition time 20 and 17 sec (iPAT factor 2, GRAPPA), respectively. Image quality, coverage of the pulmonary arteries, delineation of patent segmental and sub-segmental vessels and pathological findings were assessed. A total of 1980 vessels were evaluated. RESULTS: Sagittal 3D-MRA was superior in overall image quality and complete coverage of the vessels compared to coronal MRA, 18 % of subsegmental and 4.3 % of segmental arteries as well as 1.1 % of the lobar vessels were not covered by coronal acquisition. Only 0.5 % of sagittal subsegments were missed. The number of depicted patent segmental and subsegmental arteries was higher in sagittal MRA (460 vs 489 and 573 vs 649, respectively), the total difference of patent vessels was 105. Sagittal MRA revealed more pathological findings in segmental arteries (especially thrombotic material and stenoses). CONCLUSION: Sagittal CE-MRA of the pulmonary arteries with higher resolution and short acquisition time proved to be superior in all assessed criterias like image quality, vessel coverage, depiction of patent peripheral arteries and pathological findings compared to coronal MRA. The applied sagittal MRA is recommended for the routine practise in diagnostic evaluation of patients with CTEPH.
PURPOSE: Comparison of two different types of contrast-enhanced 3D-MR angiography (CE-MRA) with integrated parallel acquisition technique (iPAT) in patients with chronic-thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) and evaluation whether sagittal acquisition with higher resolution and minimized acquisition time is superior to common coronal orientation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CE-MRA was performed on 15 patients with CTEPH preoperatively and on 10 patients also postoperatively, while 5 other patients received only a postoperative MRA. All 30 MR studies with one coronal and two sagittal acquisitions were blindly evaluated and compared. The resolution of coronal and sagittal MRA was 1.3 x 0.6 x 1.4 mm (3) and 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.2 mm (3), and acquisition time 20 and 17 sec (iPAT factor 2, GRAPPA), respectively. Image quality, coverage of the pulmonary arteries, delineation of patent segmental and sub-segmental vessels and pathological findings were assessed. A total of 1980 vessels were evaluated. RESULTS: Sagittal 3D-MRA was superior in overall image quality and complete coverage of the vessels compared to coronal MRA, 18 % of subsegmental and 4.3 % of segmental arteries as well as 1.1 % of the lobar vessels were not covered by coronal acquisition. Only 0.5 % of sagittal subsegments were missed. The number of depicted patent segmental and subsegmental arteries was higher in sagittal MRA (460 vs 489 and 573 vs 649, respectively), the total difference of patent vessels was 105. Sagittal MRA revealed more pathological findings in segmental arteries (especially thrombotic material and stenoses). CONCLUSION: Sagittal CE-MRA of the pulmonary arteries with higher resolution and short acquisition time proved to be superior in all assessed criterias like image quality, vessel coverage, depiction of patent peripheral arteries and pathological findings compared to coronal MRA. The applied sagittal MRA is recommended for the routine practise in diagnostic evaluation of patients with CTEPH.
Authors: Sebastian Ley; Julia Ley-Zaporozhan; Michael B Pitton; Jens Schneider; Gesine M Wirth; Eckhard Mayer; Christoph Düber; Karl-Friedrich Kreitner Journal: Eur Radiol Date: 2011-09-27 Impact factor: 5.315
Authors: Karl-Friedrich Kreitner; R Peter Kunz; Sebastian Ley; Katja Oberholzer; Daniel Neeb; Klaus K Gast; Claus-Peter Heussel; Balthasar Eberle; Eckhard Mayer; Hans-Ulrich Kauczor; Christoph Düber Journal: Eur Radiol Date: 2006-07-13 Impact factor: 5.315