Background Patients who are being evaluated to undergo fibula free flap transfer often do not have arterial disease. However a significant anatomical variant cannot be clinically excluded. Contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiogram (CE-MRA) is commonly performed to identify the suitable side to harvest the flap and to exclude unsuitable infra-popliteal arterial anatomy. The aim of this stud...

With technological advances in magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), spatial resolution of 1-mm perforating vessels can reliably be visualized and accurately located in reference to patients' anatomic landmarks without exposing patients to ionizing radiation or iodinated contrast, resulting in optimal perforator selection, improved flap design, and increased surgical efficiency. As their experi...

Background Although contrast-enhanced first-pass MRA (FP-MRA) is frequently used to visualize the thoracic vasculature, it may not be ideal for the assessment of the aortic root due to poor image quality and motion artifact. Bloodpool contrast agents remain within the intravascular space for several hours, allowing vessels to be imaged longer and therefore improving spatial resolution. The purp...

Introduction Given the frequency of renal functional impairment in patients with peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and concerns about nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, there is growing interest in unenhanced MRA (1,2). While promising, existing unenhanced MRA methods suffer from limitations that preclude robust clinical application for PVD. An ideal unenhanced method should be fast, easy to use, a...

OBJECTIVE To validate the optimal cardiac phase and appropriate acquisition window for three-dimensional (3D) whole-heart coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with a steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequence, and to compare image quality between SSFP and Gd-enhanced fast low-angle shot (FLASH) MR techniques at 1.5 Tesla (T). MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty healthy volunteers (M:F = 2...

Introduction; Dynamic contrast MR angiography (C MRA) has made a major role for evaluation of cardiovascular diseases. For evaluation of patients with renal insufficiency or history with adverse reactions, MR contrast media cannot be used. Non-contrast (NC) MRAs with several techniques have been introduced. Currently, we used two types of MRA; FIESTA with flow preparation pulse (Flow-Prep) base...

Introduction The aim of this study was to compare magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in the preoperative assessment of crural arteries and their skin perforators prior to free fibular transfer. Patients and methods Fifteen consecutive patients, scheduled for free vascularized fibular flap transfer, were subjected to DSA as well as MRA of the crural a...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was the intraindividual comparison of a 1.0 M and two 0.5 M gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCA) using equimolar dosing in dynamic and static magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the supra-aortic vessels. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this institutional review board-approved study, a total of 20 healthy volunteers (mean ± SD age, 29 ± 6 years) underwent 3 co...

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...