Jan Robert Kroeger1, Francesca Claudia Pavesio2, Richard Mörsdorf3, Kilian Weiss4, Alexander Christian Bunck5, Bettina Baeßler6, David Maintz7, Daniel Giese8. 1. Department of Radiology, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany; Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology and Nuclear Medicine, Johannes Wesling University Hospital, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. Electronic address: janrobert.kroeger@muehlenkreiskliniken.de. 2. Department of Radiology, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: f.pavesio@khporz.de. 3. Department of Radiology, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: rmoersdorf@gmx.de. 4. Department of Radiology, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany; Philips GmbH, Hamburg, Germany. Electronic address: kilian.weiss@philips.com. 5. Department of Radiology, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: alexander.bunck@uk-koeln.de. 6. Department of Radiology, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany; Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: Bettina.Baessler@usz.ch. 7. Department of Radiology, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: david.maintz@uk-koeln.de. 8. Department of Radiology, University of Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany. Electronic address: giesedaniel@gmail.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: To evaluate the feasibility of a k-t accelerated multi-VENC 4D phase contrast flow MRI acquisition of the main heart-surrounding vessels, its benefits over a traditional single-VENC acquisition and to present reference flow and velocity values in a large cohort of volunteers. METHODS: 44 healthy volunteers were examined on a 3 T MRI scanner (Ingenia, Philips, Best, The Netherlands). 4D flow measurements were obtained with a FOV including the aorta and the pulmonary arteries. VENC values were set to 40, 100 and 200 cm/s and unfolded based on an MRI signal model. Unfolded multi-VENC data was compared to the single-VENC with VENC 200 cm/s. Flow and velocity quantification was performed in several regions of interest (ROI) placed in the ascending aorta and in the main pulmonary artery. Conservation of mass analysis was performed for single- and multi-VENC datasets. Values for mean and maximal flow velocity and stroke volume were calculated and compared to the literature. RESULTS: Mean scan time was 13.8 ± 4 min. Differences between stroke volumes between the ascending aorta and the main pulmonary artery were significantly lower in multi-VENC datasets compared to single-VENC datasets (9.6 ± 7.8 mL vs. 25.4 ± 26.4 mL, p < 0.001). This was also true for differences in stroke volume between up- and downstream ROIs in the ascending aorta and pulmonary artery. Values for mean and maximal velocities and stroke volume were in-line with previous studies. To highlight potential clinical applications two exemplary 4D flow measurements in patients with different pathologies are shown and compared to single-VENC datasets. CONCLUSIONS: k-t accelerated multi-VENC 4D phase contrast flow MRI acquisition of the great vessels is feasible in a clinically acceptable scan duration. It offers improvements over traditional single-VENC 4D flow, expectedly being valuable when vessels with different flow velocities or complex flow phenomena are evaluated.
BACKGROUND: To evaluate the feasibility of a k-t accelerated multi-VENC 4D phase contrast flow MRI acquisition of the main heart-surrounding vessels, its benefits over a traditional single-VENC acquisition and to present reference flow and velocity values in a large cohort of volunteers. METHODS: 44 healthy volunteers were examined on a 3 T MRI scanner (Ingenia, Philips, Best, The Netherlands). 4D flow measurements were obtained with a FOV including the aorta and the pulmonary arteries. VENC values were set to 40, 100 and 200 cm/s and unfolded based on an MRI signal model. Unfolded multi-VENC data was compared to the single-VENC with VENC 200 cm/s. Flow and velocity quantification was performed in several regions of interest (ROI) placed in the ascending aorta and in the main pulmonary artery. Conservation of mass analysis was performed for single- and multi-VENC datasets. Values for mean and maximal flow velocity and stroke volume were calculated and compared to the literature. RESULTS: Mean scan time was 13.8 ± 4 min. Differences between stroke volumes between the ascending aorta and the main pulmonary artery were significantly lower in multi-VENC datasets compared to single-VENC datasets (9.6 ± 7.8 mL vs. 25.4 ± 26.4 mL, p < 0.001). This was also true for differences in stroke volume between up- and downstream ROIs in the ascending aorta and pulmonary artery. Values for mean and maximal velocities and stroke volume were in-line with previous studies. To highlight potential clinical applications two exemplary 4D flow measurements in patients with different pathologies are shown and compared to single-VENC datasets. CONCLUSIONS: k-t accelerated multi-VENC 4D phase contrast flow MRI acquisition of the great vessels is feasible in a clinically acceptable scan duration. It offers improvements over traditional single-VENC 4D flow, expectedly being valuable when vessels with different flow velocities or complex flow phenomena are evaluated.
Authors: Thekla H Oechtering; Grant S Roberts; Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos; Oliver Wieben; Alejandro Roldán-Alzate; Scott B Reeder Journal: Abdom Radiol (NY) Date: 2021-11-27