Efficient Flow Suppressed MRI Improves Reproducibility of Carotid Atherosclerosis Plaque Burden Measurements

Li Dong¹, Jinnan Wang², Vasily Yarnykh¹, Hunter Underhill¹, Moni Neradilek³, Thomas Hatsukami¹, Chun Yuan¹

Previous studies found that a turbo spin-echo based motion-sensitized driven-equilibrium (MSDE) sequence, provides more efficient residual flow signal suppression than the widely used multislice double inversion recovery (mDIR). However, whether this improved flow-suppression can improve reproducibility in atherosclerotic burden measurement is unknown. Bilateral carotid arteries (n=36) from 18 asymptomatic subjects underwent two carotid MRI examinations within 12 days. Compared to mDIR, the MSDE technique had a significantly reduced inter-scan reproducibility for lumen and wall area. For future clinical trials using carotid MRI, improved flow suppression techniques is recommended to monitor progression or regression of atherosclerosis plaque burden.