Comparison of Pulmonary Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) and free-breathing Ultra short time to echo (UTE) for the comprehensive evaluation of the vascular and non-vascular anatomy of the chest
Julie A Bauml1, Mark L Schiebler1, Christopher J Francois1, Kevin M Johnson2, and Scott K Nagle1,2,3
1Radiology, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States, 2Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States, 3Pediatrics, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States
MR imaging of the chest is challenging due to the low proton
density, the short T2* of the lungs and cardiorespiratory motion. Many patients
suspected of pulmonary embolism are short of breath, which can limit the
utility of breath-held techniques. Free-breathing ultrashort echo time (UTE)
approaches (TE < 0.10 ms) help to overcome some of these difficulties. In
this prospective pilot clinical study, we demonstrate that UTE provides better
overall depiction of chest structures when compared to MRA. We conclude that
UTE is complementary to MRA of the chest in the analysis of both vascular and
non-vascular thoracic structures.
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