Qualitative & Quantitative Evaluation of Contrast-Enhanced MR Venography (MRV) of the Lower Extremities with a Blood Pool Agent Compared to Noncontrast MRV

Charles Yoon Kim¹, Steven Huang¹, Rajan Gupta¹, Michael Miller¹, Mark Lessne¹, Pranay Krishnan¹, Nicholas Befera¹, Paul Evans¹, Elmar M. Merkle¹

MR venography for the detection of deep venous thrombosis is typically performed using noncontrast techniques, due to the difficulty of achieving adequate venous opacification of the lower extremities. Theoretically, a blood pool agent would be able to overcome these limitations. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the use of gadofosveset for imaging the lower extremity venous system compared to a conventional noncontrast gradient recalled echo (GRE) sequence, which has been proven to be highly sensitive and specific for the detection of DVT.