This review article deals with MR angiography (MRA) of abdominal and p
eripheral arteries. Pulsatile flow, respiratory motion and peristalsis
impose difficulties in imaging the vascular structures in the abdomen
and the lower extremities. Development of new techniques, such as seg
mentation of the data acquisition, using specific acquisition windows
in relation to a cardiac trigger, magnetization preparation of the tis
sue and phase-encoding re-ordering or sorting, have reduced the artifa
cts associated with abdominal and peripheral MRA. Clinical MR investig
ations of the arteries branching from the abdominal aorta such as the
renal and mesenteric arteries and arteries in the lower extremities ha
ve revealed that severe stenoses or occlusions can be diagnosed accura
tely while the grading of less severe stenosis is more difficult. The
phase-contrast method has been used to quantify blood flow and study t
he hemodynamics in abdominal and peripheral vessels. Quantitative flow
information can be used to diagnose vascular disease and provides imp
ortant physiological information. More prospective clinical studies, i
n which recently developed MRA techniques are compared with convention
al angiography, are necessary before conclusive decisions can be made
as to whether MRA may replace these methods.