Contrast-enhanced peripheral MRA: technique and contrast agents.

In the last decade contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) has gained wide acceptance as a valuable tool in the diagnostic work-up of patients with peripheral arterial disease.This review presents current concepts in peripheral CE-MRA with emphasis on MRI technique and contrast agents.Peripheral CE-MRA is defined as an MR angiogram of the arteries from the aortic bifurcation to the feet. Advantages of CE-MRA include minimal invasiveness and lack of ionizing radiation. The basic technique employed for peripheral CE-MRA is the bolus-chase method. With this method a paramagnetic MRI contrast agent is injected intravenously and T1-weighted images are acquired in the subsequent arterial first-pass phase. In order to achieve high quality MR angiograms without interfering venous contamination or artifacts, a number of factors need to be taken into account. This includes magnetic field strength of the MRI system, receiver coil configuration, use of parallel imaging, contrast bolus timing techniq...