Abstract #3897

Non Contrast-Enhanced 3D MR Angiography of Renal Arteries Using a Novel Inversion Recovery Steady State Free Precession Technique: Our Initial Experience

Mayil Krishnam¹, Sachin Malik^1,2, Yutaka Natsuaki³, Swati Deshmane¹, Derek Lohan¹, James Paul Finn¹, Stefan G. Ruehm¹, Gerhard Laub³

¹Department of Radiology, Ronald Reagan Medical Center, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; ²School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; ³Siemens Medical Solutions, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Navigator gated cardiac triggered inversion recovery steady-state free-precession (IR-SSFP) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) has been utilized to image the renal arteries without breath holding or intravenous contrast. Following further optimization, we have implemented this novel sequence on our 1.5T MR scanner to assess the renal arteries with a scan time of approximately 5 minutes. IR-SSFP had better visibility, less motion artifacts, and satisfactory stenosis detection compared to contrast-enhanced MRA. Our results demonstrate that IR-SSFP MRA of the renal arteries provides high image quality and sufficient signal-noise ratio and contrast-noise ratio for the diagnosis of renal artery stenosis.