Identification of the Artery of Adamkiewicz Artery: The Role of High Spatial and Temporal Resolution MR Angiography in Patients with Indistinct Depiction by MDCT Angiography.

Hideki Ota¹, Kei Takase¹, Yoshikatsu Saiki², Hidenobu Sasaki¹, Kazuomi Yamanaka¹, Shoki Takahashi¹

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of high spatial and temporal resolution MR angiography at 3.0T in patients with poor or moderate depiction of the artery of Adamkiewicz on MDCT angiography. Confidence grade for its identification were compared between MDCT and MR angiography. MR angiography demonstrated higher detectability with higher confidence of the artery of Adamkiewicz than MDCT angiography. Although MDCT angiography is widely used for preoperative evaluation in patients with aortic disease, additional use of MR angiography helps to localize the artery of Adamkiewicz in patients with indistinct depiction on MDCT examination.