MR-ANGIOGRAPHY OF THE FOOT AND ANKLE

To better understand the use of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) i n evaluating peripheral vascular disease, the authors studied arteries in the foot and ankle, Twenty patients with arterial occlusive diseas e of the lower extremity were studied with two-dimensional time-of-fli ght MRA, and the results were compared with those of 10 conventional x -ray arteriograms, four digital subtraction arteriograms, and three in traoperative arteriograms. The studies were reviewed and rated by thre e radiologists blinded to the patients' clinical history. Also, the fi rst 16 patients were examined with MRA before and after intravenous in jection of gadopentetate dimeglumine. The mean confidence levels for t he reviewers' interpretations of the MRA studies were significantly hi gher than those for the conventional arteriograms for the medial plant ar, lateral planter, and plantar arch arteries of the feet (P less tha n or equal to .005), Postcontrast MRA images were inferior to precontr ast images because of overlapping of veins and arteries. Time-of-fligh t MRA without gadolinium can serve as a useful complementary study for evaluating patients with peripheral vascular disease in the foot and ankle.