Thorsten Alexander Bley1, Christopher Jean Pierre Francois1, Mark L. Schiebler1, Oliver Wieben2, Naoyuki Takei3, Wei Sun4, Mitsuharu Miyoshi3, Jean H. Brittain4, Reed F. Busse4, Thomas M. Grist1, Scott B. Reeder1
1Radiology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA; 2Radiology and Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, USA; 3MR Applied Sciences Laboratory, GE Healthcare, Tokyo, Japan; 4MR Applied Sciences Laboratory, GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, USA
This study evaluates an investigational version of the Inhance Inflow IR pulse sequence, a balanced SSFP (bSSFP) based NCE-MRA sequence that is combined with the inflow effects of time of flight MRA for detection and quantification of renal artery stenoses, in a porcine model. Results of three readers who evaluated the degree of surgically created renal artery stenosis in 12 swine were compared to 3D rotational DSA. The NCE-MRA technique produced consistent results, with no technical failures. Good correlation between NCE-MRA and DSA demonstrates the feasibility of this NCE-MRA sequence for assessment of renal artery stenoses.