Ky. Ho et al., MR-ANGIOGRAPHY OF THE ILIAC AND UPPER FEMORAL ARTERIES USING 4 DIFFERENT INFLOW TECHNIQUES, American journal of roentgenology, 169(1), 1997, pp. 45-53
OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to compare two inflow MR angi
ography pulse sequences obtained with and without systolic synchroniza
tion. We also compared these two MR angiography pulse sequences with c
onventional angiography.SUBJECTS AND METHODS, Thirty-one consecutive p
atients who were scheduled for conventional angiography because of sym
ptomatic atherosclerotic occlusive disease of the iliac or femoral art
ery underwent MR angiography using four different MR angiography techn
iques. These techniques consisted of a multiple two-dimensional invers
ion prepulse gradient-recalled echo technique (turbo field-echo) obtai
ned with and without systolic synchronization and a multiple two-dimen
sional gradient-recalled echo technique (fast field-echo) obtained wit
h and without systolic synchronization. We then compared image quality
and our ability to detect and grade degree and length of stenosis, us
ing conventional angiography as the gold standard. RESULTS. The systol
ic-synchronized turbo field-echo sequence produced the best results bo
th objectively and subjectively. Comparing systolic-synchronized turbo
field-echo and fast field-echo techniques with conventional angiograp
hy regarding detection and grading degree of stenoses, we found no sta
tistically significant differences. CONCLUSION, Systolic synchronizati
on proved to be of significant importance for image quality. The systo
lic-synchronized turbo field-echo pulse sequence proved to be superior
to the other three MR angiography techniques.