Faculty Disclosures Vincent B. Ho, M.D. MR Angiography Techniques and Pitfalls Financial Disclosure Grant/Research Support General Electric Medical Systems Off-Label/Investigational Drug Use Dr. Ho will discuss the usage of Gd-chelate contrast agents for cardiovascular MRI/MRA which is an off-label use. The opinions or assertions contained herein are t he private views of Dr. Ho and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of USUHS or the Dept. of Defense. Vincent B. Ho, M.D., M.B.A. Professor of Radiology Uniformed Services University Bethesda, Maryland Presentation Objectives Pros and Cons of MRA At the end of this presentation, the participant w ill be able To discuss common MR techniques for vascular evaluation To describe common pitfalls of MRA methods Benef its Does not require iodinated contrast materials Fast (especially Gd-enhanced MRA) Readily perf ormed on most current scanners Does not require ionizing radiation Disadvantages MRI has contraindications (e.g. pacemakers) Stents ty pically cause artifacts on MRI Not necessarily push button MRA Techniques -of-flight MRA Steady State Free Precession MRA Gd-Enhanced MRA -Of-Flight MRA Principle In-Flow Effect (a.k.a. wash-in phenomenon or f low related enhancement ) -Venous Segmentation Selective Saturation Band Concerns Intravoxel Dephasing [Benefit Flow Jet] Saturation Effects (e.g. in-plane flow)
Saturated Spins -of-flight ( In-Flow phenomenon) -Of-Flight MRA Principle In-Flow Effect (a.k.a. wash-in phenomenon or f low related enhancement ) -Venous Segmentation Selective Saturation Band Concerns Saturation Effects (e.g. in-plane flow) Intravoxel Dephasing [Benefit Flow Jet] -of-flight ( In-Flow phenomenon) -of-flight ( In-Flow phenomenon*) Saturation Band -of-flight ( In-Flow phenomenon) -of-flight ( In-Flow phenomenon*) Saturation Band
-Of-Flight MRA TOF Pitfall Spin Saturation Principle In-Flow Effect (a.k.a. wash-in phenomenon or f low related enhancement ) -Venous Segmentation Selective Saturation Band Concerns Saturation Effects (e.g. in-plane flow) Intravoxel Dephasing [Benefit Flow Jet] Saturated Spins TOF Pitfall Spin Saturation -Of-Flight MRA Principle Overestimation of stenosis In-Flow Effect (a.k.a. wash-in phenomenon or f low related enhancement ) or -Venous mimicing Segmentation of vascular occlusion Selective Saturation Band Saturated Spins Concerns Saturation Effects (e.g. in-plane flow) Intravoxel Dephasing [Benefit Flow Jet] Principle Phase Shifts -Venous Segmentation Phase Map Data Concerns Intravoxel Dephasing [Benefit Flow Jet] Principle Phase Shifts -Venous Segmentation Phase Map Data Bipolar Flow Encoded Gradients
PC Data Speed Phase Map Dilated Azygous Magnitude Principle Phase Shifts -Venous Segmentation Phase Map Data Concerns Intravoxel Dephasing [Benefit Flow Jet] Axia l n on-g d 3 D P C MR A Ao Axial Post Gd 3D MRA Rt. Renal Stenosis Gd i mproves PC MR A! Concerns Intravoxel Dephasing [Benefit Flow Jet] Steady State Free Precession (SSFP, TrueFISP, BalFFE, FIESTA) Principle T2/T1 ratio (and some in-flow ) -Venous Segmentation Anatomic segmentation by operator Concerns B 0 Homogeneity Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) Contamination by adjacent structures with high T2 (eg. biliary tree and gallbladder) 3D SSFP Coronary MRA Gd-Enhanced 3D MRA RCA and LM LAD Vascular imaging relies on the T1-shortening of blood by circulating Gd-chelate contrast media during arterial transit (arterial phase) of the bolus affords preferential arterial illustration 0.40 RCA LCx Relative 0.35 0.30 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 Gd-enhancement (T1 = 100 msec) Muscle (T1=600 msec) Blood (T1=1200 msec) CNR Ho VB, et al. MRA Club 2003 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Number of RF pulses
Gd-enhanced 3D MRA Principle Sy nchronization of imaging (center of ) for peak vascular contrast enhancement -Venous Segmentation Timing (e.g. arterial phase) Concerns Patient Preparation Timing Ringing Artif act Gadolinium-Enhanced MRA depiction relies on the synchronization of imaging with the arterial phase of the Gd bolus? Delay Tim e K-s pac e Data for 3D MRA Gd-Enhanced MRA Timing Gd-Enhanced MRA Timing Intens ity Intens ity Volume Volume Gd-Enhanced MRA K-space Timing of Gd-MRA depends on the MRA scheme K-Space Scheme Conv entional Acquisition (Sequential or Linear) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 k-space Scheme Sequential Centric Elliptical Centric Partial Fourier Reverse Sequential Ho VB, et al. Top Magn Reson 2001;12283-299 Ho VB, et al. Top Magn Reson 2001;12283-299
K-Space Scheme Conv entional Centric Acquisition (Sequential) K-Space Scheme Elliptical Centric Acquisition 7 K-space Trajectory From center to next closest radial point to center 5 3 1 2 4 6 8 Result Compact acquisition of central data Ho VB, et al. Top Magn Reson 2001;12283-299 Ho VB, et al. Top Magn Reson 2001;12283-299 K-Space Scheme Conv entional Partial-Fourier Acquisition ( 0.5 NEX ) K-Space Scheme Partial-Fourier Reverse Sequential Acquisition 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 6 5 9 10 4 3 2 1 over sca n re gi on f or lo w spatial fr equency estim ation over sca n re gi on f or lo w spatial fr equency estim ation Ho VB, et al. Top Magn Reson 2001;12283-299 Ho VB, et al. Top Magn Reson 2001;12283-299 Gd-Enhanced MRA K-space Gd-MRA Timing Timing of Gd-MRA depends on the MRA scheme Timing Scan Real- Triggering Multi-Phase k-space Scheme Sequential Centric Elliptical Centric Partial Fourier Reverse Sequential Ho VB, et al. Top Magn Reson 2001;12283-299? Delay
Timing Scan Real- Triggering Multi-Phase Gd-MRA Timing Axial Timing Run Apply Inferior and Superior Sat Bands Test Bolus Prescription Place monitoring slice over the target vessel Pulse sequence axial FMPSPGR, S/I sat, TR 20 msec, TE min, FA 60 degrees, 31.5 khz bandwidth, 256x128, 1 NEX 1 image/1-2 sec Injection 1-2 ml @ 2 ml/sec followed by 25 ml saline flush via MR-compatible injector Test Bolus for Gd-MRA Timing* Td = to Enhancement Test Bolus Test Bolus for Gd-MRA Timing* Td = to Enhancement Test Bolus Diagnost ic Bolus Tg = Duration of Enhancement Diagnost ic Bolus Tg = Duration of Enhancement Ts = to Start of Scan Ta = Data Ac q uis itio n Ts = Td + Tg/2 - Ta/2 Ts = to Start of Scan Ta = Data Ac q uis itio n Ts = Td + 2 sec *Earls JP, Rofsky NM, DeCorato DR, et al. Radiology 1996;201705-710 Timing Scan Real- Triggering Multi-Phase Gd-MRA Timing Timing Scan Real- Triggering Multi-Phase Gd-MRA Timing A B C 2000 1800 Detect Gd MR Fluoro Trigger 3D MRA w/sense Integral of Echo Speed 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Gd-MRA (centric) (sec)
Timing Scan Real- Triggering Multi-Phase Gd-MRA Timing Multi-Phase 3D MRA Contrast Administration Right antecubital IV (at least 22G) Match bolus duration with at least half that of the imaging time, namely central Contrast Dose 20 to 30 ml @ 2 ml/sec Hany et al (ISMRM 1998,768) estimated that need AT LEAST 0.12 mmol/kg Saline Flush 30 ml @ 2 ml/sec Im aging Param eters Shortest possible TR and TE Optimize spatial resolution vs. time (e.g. 2-3 mm for aorta; 2 mm for renal arteries) Examples 0.75 FOV, 0.5 NEX, ± 64 khz ZIP (a.k.a. zero filling) improv es MIP (NOTE spatial resolution not really better) Centric (or elliptical centric) phase ordering...partial Fourier using rev erse sequential Parallel (a.k.a. SENSE, ASSET) Patient Preparation Test BH capacity and instruct patient Respiratory bellows Cardiac gating (cine MR) Oxygen and hyperventilation Patient positioning Coil selection Surgical history (e.g. extra-anatomic shunt, stents) Right antecubital IV Left Sided Venous Injection T2* artif act caus ed by the high concentration of Gd during t he ini tial pass thr oug h t he left bracheocephalic vein Sol ution Right ant ec ubi tal injecti on and multiphase (delayed phas e) imaging Phase Delayed Phase k-space Scheme Gd-MRA K-space Scheme Timing of Gd-MRA depends on the MRA scheme Sequential Centric Elliptical Centric Partial Fourier Reverse Sequential Ho VB, et al. Top Magn Reson 2001;12283-299
Gd-MRA K-space Scheme Timing of Gd-MRA depends on the MRA scheme Ringing Artifact Ringing Artifact" on Gd-MRA k-space Scheme Sequential Centric Elliptical Centric Partial Fourier Reverse Sequential Acknowledgements Bill Corse Julianna Czum Thomas Foo Kai Yiu Ho Maureen Hood Scott Pereles Martin Prince Barry Stein