Jun Isogai1, Mitsue Miyazaki2,
Takeshi Shimada1, Hideo Hatakeyama1, Takashi Yamada1,
Tomoko Miyata3, Kenji Yodo3, Ken Kudou3
1Radiology, Hasuda Hospital, Hasuda,
Saitama, Japan; 2Toshiba Medical Research Institute USA, United
States; 3Toshiba Medical Systems Corp., Japan
Visualization
of the subclavian arterial branches is quite difficult using conventional
nonenhanced time-of-flight MR angiography due to the tortuous arterial trees
and small vessels. Gadolinium-enhanced MRA also has several problems with
injection rates, the amount of contrast material, and venous superimposition.
Due to the recent concerns of Gadolinium-related Nephrogenic Systemic
Fibrosis (NSF), nonenhanced MRA solutions have gained interest. Visualization
of small arteries of the subclavian arterial branches was investigated using
3D half-Fourier FSE images combined with time-spatial labeling inversion
pulse (time-SLIP).