Arterial Flow Characteristics in the Presence of Vascular Disease, and Implications for Non-Contrast MRA

Pippa Storey¹, Ruth P. Lim¹, Manjil Chatterji¹, Jian Xu², Hua Guo¹, David R. Stoffel¹, Vivian S. Lee¹

Non-contrast techniques for peripheral MRA exploit differences in arterial flow velocity between diastole and systole, and produce exquisite bright-blood arterial images in healthy subjects. We studied the performance of ECG-gated 3D FSE-based MRA in 26 patients with vascular disease, and correlated the results with the patients arterial flow characteristics. Notable findings included the observation in 2 patients of reduced pulsatility and increased diastolic flow distal to a stenosis or occlusion. The presence of this tardus parvus waveform correlated with poor depiction of the distal segments. Techniques with reduced flow sensitivity in diastole may perform better in such conditions.