Vascular

With the development and widespread implementation of gadolinium-enhanced 3D MR angiography, vascular imaging using MRI has become one of the most widely performed imaging studies. Faster and improved imaging techniques have moved the field into new applications that can be easily performed in the routine clinical setting and that tremendously increase the diagnostic utility of the study. For example, phased-array coils and moving table technologies as well as faster imaging methods using tricks such as interpolation and parallel imaging methods, permit the performance of whole body MRA in a single examination (under 30 minutes!). Alternatively, the improvements in technique can be traded for faster, time-resolved imaging that enables the diagnosis of abnormal arterial and venous flows in the setting of atherosclerosis, arteriovenous malformations, dialysis fistulas, and other applications. With the angiographic portion of the imaging study now feasible in short examination times, attention is turning to supplementing the anatomic information with valuable physiologic or functional information about the functioning of the end organ supplied by diseased vessels.