Ferumoxytol-enhanced ultrashort TE MRA and quantitative morphometry of the human kidney vasculature

Purpose To evaluate the feasibility of Quantitative Ultrashort-Time-to-Echo Contrast-Enhanced (QUTE-CE) MRA using ferumoxytol as a contrast agent for abdominal angiography in the kidney. Methods Four subjects underwent ferumoxytol-enhanced MRA with the 3D UTE Spiral VIBE WIP sequence at 3 T. Image quality metrics were quantified, specifically the blood Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), blood-tissue Contrast-to-Noise Ratio (CNR) and Intraluminal Signal Heterogeneity (ISH) from both the aorta and inferior vena cava (IVC). Morphometric analysis of the vessels was performed using manual approach and semi-automatic approach using Vascular Modeling ToolKit (VMTK). Image quality and branching order were compared between QUTE-CE MRA and the Gadolinium (Gd) CEMRA reference image. Results QUTE-CE MRA provides a bright blood snapshot that delineates arteries and veins equally in the same scan. The maximum SNR and CNR values were 3,282 +/- 1,218 and 1,295 +/- 580, respectively - significantly higher than available literature values using other CEMRA techniques. QUTE-CE MRA had lower ISH and depicted higher vessel branching order (7th vs 3rd) within the kidney compared to a standard dynamic clinical Gd CEMRA scan. Morphometric analysis yielded quantitative results for the total kidney volume, total cyst volume and for diameters of the branching arterial network down to the 7(th) branch. Vessel curvature was significantly increased (p < 0.001) in the presence of a renal cyst compared to equivalent vessels in normal kidney regions. Conclusion QUTE-CE MRA is feasible for kidney angiography, providing greater detail of kidney vasculature, enabling quantitative morphometric analysis of the abdominal and intra-renal vessels and yielding metrics relevant to vascular diseases while using a contrast agent ferumoxytol that is safe for CKD patients.