SNR Optimized Contrast-Enhanced MRA of the Peripheral Vasculature using Patient Specific Timing Parameters: Comparison between High and Conventional Relaxivity Contrast Agents in Patient Suspected of Arterial Occlusive Disease

Introduction Single injection moving table peripheral contrast enhanced MR angiography is increasingly utilized for the evaluation of peripheral atherosclerotic occlusive disease (PAOD). Peripheral MRA (pMRA) is typically performed using a moving table technique during first passage of double to triple dose (0.2-0.3 mmol/kg) extracellular gadolinium chelate. The objective of this study was to compare the first pass imaging properties of a high relaxivity contrast agent (HRCA) with a conventional extracellular agent in patients suspected of peripheral arterial occlusive disease using a previously described SNR-optimized pMRA technique incorporating patient-specific timing parameters. Gd-BOPTA (Multihance, Bracco Diagnostics, Princeton, NJ) is a high relaxation gadolinium contrast agent that has proven advantageous in clinical contrast MRA examinations due to its two-fold greater relaxivity in blood. We compare here optimized pMRA using similar doses (~0.2 mmol/kg) of MultiHance and conventional relaxivity contrast agents (CRCA), as well as smaller doses (~0.1 mmol/kg) of MultiHance.