CONTRAST-ENHANCED 3-DIMENSIONAL FAST IMAGING WITH STEADY-STATE PRECESSION (FISP) MR-ANGIOGRAPHY OF SUPRAAORTIC VESSELS - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the ef fectiveness of contrast-enhanced fast three-dimensional (3D) MR angiog raphy in depicting both the carotid and vertebral arteries in their ce rvical portions and to compare MR angiography,vith conventional angiog raphy for the evaluation of arteriosclerotic disease, METHODS: Twenty- seven patients with ischemic cerebral events in the anterior (n = 18) and posterior (n = 9) circulation underwent contrast-enhanced 3D MR an giography in the coronal plane. MR angiograms were examined in a blind ed fashion by two observers independently, Stenosis was classified acc ording to the appearance of the residual lumen (no stenosis, mild sten osis, moderate stenosis, severe stenosis, occlusion). Conventional ang iography was used as the standard of reference. RESULTS: Proximal grea t vessels and carotid siphons were not assessable on MR angiograms in 35% of cases owing to limited coverage, All cervical and petrous segme nts of the internal carotid arteries (ICAs) and 93% of the extracrania l vertebral arteries were assessable. Flow-related artifacts were obse rved in seven cases of severe stenosis, including three with signal vo id at the site of narrowing and four with signal loss in the distal IC A, Interobserver agreement was good and significant. Overall agreement between 3D MR angiography and conventional angiography was good for t he anterior and posterior circulations despite a tendency toward overe stimation of stenoses on MR angiograms. Clinically relevant stenoses a nd occlusions were correctly identified on 3D MR angiograms, providing good sensitivity and specificity, CONCLUSION: Contrast-enhanced 3D MR angiography is a promising tool for assessing arteriosclerotic lesion s of supraaortic vessels. Further studies with larger groups are requi red to determine its value for patient care.