High-resolution imaging of the intracranial arterial and venous systems following a single contrast injection

Abstract

Purpose: To generate two separate three-dimensional (3D) high spatial resolution images of the intracranial arterial and venous systems using a single contrast injection. Materials and Methods: A 3D contrast-enhanced (CE) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) acquisition was modified to create two separate k-space data sets to encode the arterial and venous enhancement signals individually after contrast agent injection. Following an automated detection of contrast arrival, the central k-space views corresponding to the arterial phase were acquired for the first eight seconds. A full elliptical-centric acquisition was then acquired for the venous phase and the missing views in the periphery of the first k-space data set were copied from the venous phase. A total of 18 patients underwent this study. Image quality, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were determined in both intracranial systems. Results: Two 3D image sets were generated for the arterial and venous intracranial systems. Both sets have high quality images that are clinically diagnostic. SNR and CNR were high in both sets, so that all the major vessels were visible. Conclusions: This technique provides images with high spatial resolution for both arterial and venous intracranial systems using a single contrast injection. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.