MR angiography of renal vascular malformations

Objective: We wanted to determine whether three-dimensional phase contrast (3DPC) MR angiography is clinically useful in the diagnosis of renal vascular malformations. Materials and Methods: Three-dimensional PC MR angiography was performed in 22 patients with gross hematuria and in 8 healthy volunteers. Small flip angles and 60 cm/s velocity encoding best demonstrated the normal intrarenal arteries with arteriovenous differentiation in the eight healthy volunteers. In the 22 patients with gross hematuria, intraarterial digital subtraction angiography demonstrated cirsoid-type malformations in 6 patients, aneurysmaltype malformations in 3 patients, and normal vascular anatomy in 13 patients