Introduction To enhance slower arterial flow as well as faster flow without increasing imaging time, we have proposed a new MRA technique named hybrid of opposite-contrast MRA (HOP-MRA) that combined standard TOF white-blood (WB) MRA with the flow-sensitive black-blood (FSBB) sequence, resulting in excellent visualization of slow-flow vessels, as compared to the MTC-TOF MRA technique [1,2]. How...

BACKGROUND To determine the prevalence of abnormal findings on brain magnetic resonance (MR) examinations in adult participants of brain docking in order to assess its usefulness. METHODS We analyzed screening brain MR examinations for 1113 adults (age, 52.6+/-8.5 years; range, 22-84; 761 male and 352 female) performed during 6-year period from April 1998 to March 2004. All participants volun...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior studies suggest that aerobic exercise may reduce both the brain atrophy and the decline in fractional anisotropy observed with advancing age. It is reasonable to hypothesize that exercise-induced changes to the vasculature may underlie these anatomic differences. The purpose of this blinded study was to compare high-activity and low-activity healthy elderly voluntee...

PURPOSE To evaluate the diagnostic performance of flow-sensitive dephasing (FSD)-prepared steady-state free precession (SSFP) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) at 3 T for imaging infragenual arteries relative to contrast-enhanced MRA (CE-MRA) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA). MATERIALS AND METHODS A series of 16 consecutive patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) underwent...

Introduction: Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) account for an increasingly recognized cause of death and long-term morbidity due to there lifelong risk of bleeding. MRI of AVMs should answer two major questions: first Spetzler-Martin-classification, which determines surgical outcome and second correct identification of feeding arteries and anatomic variants. It has recently been shown that 4D...

Compared to conventional contrastenhanced MR angiography (MRA), which provides a spatial high-resolution threedimensional (3D) MRA data set of the vascular target region, MRA with TWIST (time-resolved angiography with stochastic trajectories) with its high temporal resolution offers an additional dynamic component. It presents a broad range of advantages for all vascular diagnostic questions wh...

PURPOSE With respect to the specific characteristic of rete mirabile epidurale rostrale in sheep, the aim of this study was to investigate the use of time of flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) to observe vascular anatomy and to validate MCA occlusion in a new model of experimental focal cerebral ischemia by permanent middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion in sheep (designed to st...

PURPOSE To evaluate the feasibility of performing single breathhold three-dimensional (3D) thoracic noncontrast MR angiography (NC-MRA) using highly accelerated parallel imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS We developed a single breathhold NC MRA pulse sequence using balanced steady state free precession (SSFP) readout and highly accelerated parallel imaging. In 17 subjects, highly accelerated nonc...

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a highly accelerated breath-hold 3-dimensional noncontrast-enhanced steady-state free precession thoracic magnetic resonance angiography (NC-MRA) technique in a clinical population, including assessment of image quality, aortic dimensions, and aortic pathology, compared with electrocardiographically gated gadolinium-enhan...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Dual-source CTA and black-blood MRA are recently developed techniques for evaluating carotid stenosis. The purpose of this study was to compare dual-source CTA with black-blood MRA and conventional TOF MRA in both detecting carotid stenosis by using DSA as a reference standard and demonstrating plaque morphology. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty patients with suspected caro...