Abstract #1280

Weinmann H, Li D, Koktzoglou I, Misselwitz B

While flow-dependent methods such as double inversion-recovery and saturation work well to eliminate blood signal in non-contrast enhanced vessel wall imaging studies, these methods can fail after injection of T1-shortening contrast agents. Gadofluorine, a T1-shortening blood-pool contrast agent, has recently been shown to selectively enhance atherosclerotic arterial wall after injection. This work sought to investigate whether complex subtraction can be used as a flow-independent method for eliminating blood signal shortly after gadofluorine injection. Results indicate that complex subtraction appears to be a promising, flow-independent technique for eliminating blood signal during gadofluorine-enhanced vessel wall imaging.