MAGNETIC-RESONANCE ANGIOGRAPHY (MRA) OF THE ABDOMINAL VEINS

On the basis of the time-of-flight effect in 18 normal volunteers and 119 patients with different diseases of the abdominal veins (inferior vena cava, portosplenic system, renal/hepatic/iliac veins) magnetic resonance (MR) angiograms were compared with the DSA, CT and US results. The MR technique included a series of 2D gradient-echo (Flash) images obtained which the patients held their breath and projection angiograms (PA) (MIP algorithm). PA of the inferior vena cava and renal veins had a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 88.8%. The results demonstrate that in all cases diseases of the large veins could be detected using all the MR information available. It is suggested that this method is so far not satisfactory in the evaluation of small vessels and slow intravascular flow conditions.