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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Jun 8.
Published in final edited form as: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010 Jun 8;55(23):2614–2662. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2009.11.011

Table 7.

Peripheral CMR: 2D Time of Flight and Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography

Technique Strengths Limitations
2D TOF

  • No intravenous contrast media requirement

  • Long examination times (greater than 2 hours)

  • Highly susceptible to flow-related artifacts that may result in the overestimation of stenoses or erroneously mimic arterial occlusion
CE-MRA (i.e., bolus chase CE-MRA with time-resolved CE-MRA)

  • Short examination times

  • Provides consistently high vascular contrast-to-noise ratio for reliable depiction of arterial segments and stenoses

  • Less susceptible to flow-related artifacts

  • Provides dynamic assessment of vascular territories (time-resolved CE-MRA)

  • Requires intravenous contrast media administration

2D indicates 2-dimensional; CE-MRA, contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography; CMR, cardiovascular magnetic resonance; and TOF, time of flight.