Intraindividual Comparison of Contrast-Enhanced MRI and Unenhanced SSFP Sequences of Stenotic and Non-stenotic Pulmonary Artery Diameters

Zusammenfassung

Ziel: Inwiefern stimmen Pulmonalarteriendiametermessungen (PAD) einer 3-D-kontrastmittelangehobenen MR-Angiografie (CE-MRA) mit denen einer 2-D-balanced-steady-state-free-precession-Sequenz (bSSFP) bei stenotischen und nicht stenotischen Pulmonalarterien (PA) überein? Material und Methoden: Insgesamt wurden 44 PA (30 nicht stenotische und 14 stenotische) von 23 konsekutiven Patienten mit einer CE-MRA und einer bSSFP untersucht. Die maximalen, transversalen PAD wurden von 2 unabhängigen Auswertern bestimmt. Ergebnisse: Es wurde kein signifikanter Unterschied zwischen CE-MRA und bSSFP bzgl. der PAD gefunden. Mittels Bland-Altman-Analyse wurde eine mittlere Abweichung von 0,07 ± 0,34 cm für nicht stenotische und 0,05 ± 0,3 cm für stenotische PA berechnet. Schlussfolgerung: PAD mit bSSFP liefern mit CE-MRA vergleichbare Messwerte ohne Anwendung ionisierender Strahlen oder dem Risiko von kontrastmittelassoziierten Nebenwirkungen.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the agreement of pulmonary artery diameters assessed with 3D contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) and a 2D balanced steady-state-free precession sequence (bSSFP) in non-stenotic and stenotic pulmonary arteries (PA). Methods and Materials: 44 right and left PAs (30 non-stenotic and 14 stenotic) were examined in 23 consecutive patients by performing CE-MRA as well as bSSFP. Two independent readers determined the transverse diameters of the PA. Results: No significant difference in diameter measurements was found between CE-MRA and bSSFP (p = 0.8608 for the stenotic and p = 0.6208 for the non-stenotic PA). Bland-Altman analysis revealed good agreement between CE-MRA and bSSFP for both the non-stenotic (mean bias, 0.07 cm; with 95 % limits of agreement, ± 0.34 cm) and the stenotic (mean bias, 0.05 cm; with 95 % limits of agreement, ± 0.30 cm) PA. Conclusion: bSSFP allows rapid and accurate determination of PA diameters without the use of ionizing radiation and the risk of contrast media-associated side-effects.

Key words

vascular - MR angiography - pulmonary artery - SSFP

References

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