SIMULTANEOUS MEASUREMENT OF FLOW IN THE SUPERIOR MESENTERIC VEIN AND ARTERY WITH CINE PHASE-CONTRAST MR-IMAGING - VALUE IN DIAGNOSIS OF CHRONIC MESENTERIC ISCHEMIA - WORK-IN-PROGRESS

PURPOSE: To evaluate the use of measurements of blood flow in the supe rior mesenteric vein (SMV) and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) simult aneously acquired with phase-contrast cine magnetic resonance (MR) ima ging for diagnosing chronic mesenteric ischemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS : Simultaneous measurements of flow in the SMV and SMA were obtained i n six healthy volunteers and eight patients with angiographically prov ed SMA stenosis (six asymptomatic, two symptomatic). Flow dynamics in both vessels were correlated with the de; gree of arterial disease see n at angiography and with the presence or absence of ischemic symptoms . RESULTS: Postprandial SMV and SMA flow increased substantially less in patients with atherosclerosis than in volunteers. Comparison of sim ultaneous SMV and SMA flow measurements provided more information abou t collateral flow to and from the mesenteric circulation than did eith er the SMV or SMA flow measurement alone. CONCLUSION: Simultaneous SMV and SMA flow measurement with cine phase-contrast MR imaging may be u seful in diagnosing and understanding chronic mesenteric ischemia.