MR-ANGIOGRAPHY OF NORMAL PELVIC ARTERIES - COMPARISON OF SIGNAL INTENSITY AND CONTRAST-TO-NOISE RATIO FOR 3 DIFFERENT INFLOW TECHNIQUES

OBJECTIVE. Two-dimensional (2D) time-of-flight (TOF) MR angiography ha s been the standard technique for evaluating arteries of the lower ext remity. However, this technique is limited by artifacts resulting from vessel pulsation, as well as by relatively poor vessel-to-background contrast. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two cardiac-gated inflow techniques to determine whether they exhibited better contrast and signal performance than the standard technique of 2D TOF MR angiog raphy of the iliac arteries. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Fourteen subjects w ho had no clinical evidence of vascular disease had standard 20 TOF, g ated 2D TOF, and gated 2D turbo field-echo MR angiography. Images were evaluated for signal-intensity ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, and cont rast-to-noise ratio, in addition to qualitative evaluation. RESULTS. T urbo field-echo MR angiography exhibited significantly higher signal-i ntensity, signal-to-noise, and contrast-to-noise ratios than did eithe r gated or standard MR angiography for all vessel segments. We found n o significant difference between gated and standard 2D TOF techniques for any vessel segment. Qualitative features of turbo field-echo MR an giography included improved visualization of horizontal Vessel segment s compared with the standard 2D TOF technique, less effective venous s aturation compared with either the gated or standard 2D TOF technique, and increased ghosting artifacts compared with the gated 2D TOF techn ique. CONCLUSION. Two-dimensional turbo field-echo MR angiography exhi bits improved signal and contrast for evaluation of normal iliac segme nts compared with standard or gated 2D TOF MR angiography. This techni que should replace standard 2D TOF MR angiography for evaluation of th e iliac arteries.