Steven M. Shea1, Seth J. Berkowitz2, Jens Vogel-Claussen2, Aravind Arepally2, Peter Weale3, Xiaoming Bi3, Christine H. Lorenz1, David A. Bluemke4
1Imaging and Visualization, Siemens Corporate Research, Inc, Baltimore, MD, USA; 2Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA; 3Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Chicago, IL, USA; 4Radiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Blood flow in the kidneys is reduced in patients with renal failure, which hampers vascular visualization with sel-IR-SSFP non-contrast MRA. To improve vessel length and image quality, we proposed to increase inversion time so that two aortic pulse waves would occur between inversion and data acquisition. This protocol was compared with the standard single heartbeat approach in 20 patients with renal failure. Vessel length, SNR, and image quality was significantly better for the two heartbeat approach. This enables visualization of second and third orders branches, which is important for identifying distal stenosis, planning percutanous procedures, and screening for incidental aneurysms.