The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of real-time magnetic
resonance (MR). guidance of iliac artery stent placement. Radial scanning,
together with the sliding window reconstruction technique was implemented
on a 1.5 T magnet, yielding a frame rate of 20 images per second. Seven pro
totype nitinol ZA stents were deployed mi Mae arteries of living pigs under
MR control. All stents were wen visualized on the radial MR images, allowi
ng depiction of the mounted stents as well as stent deployment without anat
omy obscuring artifacts. Stent placement was sucessful in all cases and too
k 6 minutes on average. The position of the stents was correctly visualized
by real-time radial MR scanning, as proved by digital subtraction X-ray an
giography. Combined radial scanning and the sliding window reconstruction t
echnique allow realtime MR-guided stent placement in iliac arteries. (C) 20
00 Wiley-Liss, Inc.