Targeted Multi-Contrast Vessel Wall Imaging of Bilateral Peripheral Artery Disease

Niranjan Balu¹, Jinnan Wang², Xihai Zhao¹, Thomas Hatsukami¹, Chun Yuan¹

Assessment of vessel wall involvement in peripheral arteries and veins can significantly improve the management of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). The diffuse and bilateral disease in PAD requires bilateral large coverage. Assessment of lesion composition additionally requires multi-contrast imaging. However scan times for current black-blood MRI techniques can be prohibitively long. To address this issue we demonstrate a targeted high resolution multi-contrast imaging protocol combining bilateral isotropic large coverage 3D black-blood MRI for screening and optimized high-resolution 2D black-blood MRI. One case of DVT was identified out of six subjects scanned and characterized by multi-contrast imaging within a 30 minute scan time.