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Whole-Body MRA

  • Magnetic Resonance
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Abstract

Vascular diseases today constitute a serious health burden, ranking atherosclerosis as number one in the morbidity and mortality statistics of developed countries, with a still-growing incidence. Different treatment options are available for all vascular territories, ranging from conservative pharmacological treatment and catheter-based interventions up to surgical methods with remodelling of the vessels or bypass implantation. For treatment planning, all listed procedures have in common that they rely on initial diagnostic imaging to assess the degree and extent of stenoses. In this respect, imaging of the arterial system from the head down to the feet seems to be reasonable. Up to now no imaging technique allowed the assessment of the complete arterial system in only one exam within a reasonable time and without limiting factors like invasiveness and ionizing radiation. However, recent developments in magnetic resonance (MR) hardware and software, such as dedicated whole-body MR systems with specially designed surface coils, the movement to higher field strength and the implementation of parallel acquisition techniques (PAT), have helped to overcome the long-standing limitations of MR angiography (MRA), like reduced spatial resolution, long acquisition time, the restriction to body parts and only one field of view of a maximum 50 cm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Clinical Radiology, University Hospitals Munich—Grosshadern Campus, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377, Munich, Germany

    Harald Kramer

  2. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, 45122, Essen, Germany

    Harald H. Quick & Joerg Barkhausen

  3. Department of Clinical Radiology, Westfalian Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany

    Bernd Tombach

  4. Klinikum Osnabrück, Röntgen- und Strahlenklinik, Osnabrück, Germany

    Bernd Tombach

  5. Department for Clinical Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim-University of Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, 68167, Mannheim, Germany

    Stefan O. Schoenberg

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  1. Harald Kramer
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  2. Harald H. Quick
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  3. Bernd Tombach
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  4. Stefan O. Schoenberg
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  5. Joerg Barkhausen
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Correspondence to Harald Kramer or Harald H. Quick.

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H. Kramer and H.H. Quick contributed equally to the preparation of this manuscript and share first authorship

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Kramer, H., Quick, H.H., Tombach, B. et al. Whole-Body MRA. Eur Radiol 18, 1925–1936 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-007-0817-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-007-0817-5

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