Noninvasive identification of peripheral vessels of oral and maxillofacial regions by using electrocardiography-triggered three-dimensional fast asymmetric spin-echo sequences.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the 3-dimensional images of thinner main peripheral vessels in oral and maxillofacial regions made without contrast medium by using a new technique, fresh blood imaging (FBI). A second objective was to discern arteries from veins by using the combination of FBI with the subtraction technique. STUDY
DESIGN: Images from FBI were compared with those from 3-dimensional phase-contrast magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of blood vessels in 20 healthy subjects. All images were scored for visualization and image quality of the main blood vessels. In addition, appropriate flow-spoiled gradient pulses were applied to differentiate arteries from veins in the peripheral vasculature using a combination of FBI sequences and subtraction between systole- and diastole-triggered images.
RESULTS: The scores of MRA using FBI for the visualization of thin blood vessels were significantly better than those using phase contrast, whereas scores for the visualization of main blood vessels were equal. Additionally, we succeeded in our initial attempt to differentiate arteries from veins with a reasonable acquisition time.
CONCLUSIONS: Our initial experience shows that FBI could be a useful method to identify 3-dimensional vasculature and to differentiate arteries from veins among thinner peripheral vessels in the oral and maxillofacial regions without using contrast medium.