J Korean Radiol Soc.  2000 Jun;42(6):909-917. 10.3348/jkrs.2000.42.6.909.

Low-dose Contrast-enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography with Less than the Standard Dose of Gadolinium Chelate: Comparison with Conventional Digital Subtraction Angiography

• Lee JM
• Chang YM
• Kim YS
• Kim YJ
• Kang DS

• KMID: 2200744
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/jkrs.2000.42.6.909

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CEM-RA)using gadolinium chelate at less than the standard dose. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight patients with occlusive arterial disease underwent 16 CEMRA scans of the lower extremities following bolus injection of 0.075 mmol/kg gadolinium, using a 1.5T scanner and 3D-turbo-FLASH sequence. The arterial phase was compared with that obtained by digital subtraction angiography (DSA). After grouping arteries according to their diameter, arterial detectability (AD), stenosis grad-ing (SG), and the detectability of significant stenosis (SD) were compared. RESULTS: The AD of CEMRA showed high specificity (Sp, 98%-100%) in all groups, and sensitivity (Sn) was high (>90%) in groups I, II, and III. SG showed a correlation coefficient of 0.65* and 0.60* in groups I and II, though CEMRA tended to overesti-mate. SD was high (Sn,100%) in all groups, but Sp was low(<70%). CONCLUSION: Low-dose CEMRA is an excellent way to exclude significant arterial ob-struction in the lower extremities, even in small arteries. Stenosis grading was possible in large arteries but consideration must be paid to the technique 's overestimating characteristic.

Keyword

Magnetic resonance (MR), angiography; Magnetic resonance (MR), contrast enhancement; Extremities, MR

MeSH Terms

Angiography
Angiography, Digital Subtraction*
Arteries
Constriction, Pathologic
Gadolinium*
Humans
Lower Extremity
Magnetic Resonance Angiography*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Gadolinium