Time-Resolved 3D MR Velocity Mapping of the Great Hepatic Vessels at 3T: Simultaneous Visualization of Arterial and Venous Hemodynamics and Comparison with Ultrasound

Zoltan Csatari¹, Zoran Stankovic¹, Peter Deibert², Wulf Euringer¹, Wolfgang Kreisel², Mathias Langer¹, Michael Markl¹

Flow-sensitive 4D-MRI allows the detailed depiction and quantification of the great hepatic vessels including the portal venous system as well as the coeliac trunc at the same time. As expected our results demonstrate differences in blood flow characteristics between the portal venous system and the arteries. In accordance with the literature lower values for velocities and higher values for areas were measured by MRI, but linear regression analysis showed an excellent agreement between MRI and the reference standard Doppler Ultrasound (r = 0,72; p < 0.001). In consideration of these results our findings underline that 4D-MRI could be an alternative, user indipendent method to Doppler US in investigating normal and pathological hemodynamics of the great hepatic vessels.