ROLE OF MR VENOGRAPHY IN THE EVALUATION OF DEEP VENOUS THROMBOSIS

Purpose: MR venography has been recommended for the evaluation of deep venous thrombosis. The purpose of our study was to determine the role of MR venography, in particular at the level of the pelvis where othe r diagnostic modalities show major limitations. Materials and Methods: Forty-three patients with clinical suspicion of deep venous thrombosi s were examined by means of pelvic MR venography. In all cases, a 2D-T OF sequence was used with cranial arterial presaturation. In selected cases, i.e. when a small intraluminal filling defect was present, a ci ne-PC sequence was used in addition in order to exclude the presence o f a pulsatility artifact as causing the filling defect. In all cases, contrast venography was also performed and considered to be the standa rd of reference. Results: MR venography showed 26 patients to be posit ive for deep venous thrombosis at the pelvic level. These positive res ults were correct in 25 cases. The analysis of the results provided va lues of sensitivity and specificity of respectively 100% and 94%, with an overall accuracy of 97.6%. Conclusion: Our results indicate that M R can provide highly accurate images, similar to those of contrast ven ography, in a noninvasive fashion. It is particularly useful in the pe lvic region where the limitations of other imaging modalities are more evident.