Abstract
PURPOSE
To describe an oblique, two-slab 3-D acquisition technique for MR angiography of the extracranial carotid arteries, an approach chosen to minimize saturation effects when the body coil is used as transmitter, as is often the situation when a dedicated neck coil is used as receiver.
SUBJECTS
Five healthy subjects and 17 patients in whom carotid artery disease was suspected underwent MR angiography using the above technique.
RESULTS
Flow contrast was much better than in direct sagittal acquisition. Comparisons between multislab transverse 3-D acquisition and the oblique approach showed that a greater length of the carotid arteries was depicted and scan time was less for oblique acquisitions.
CONCLUSIONS
Use of oblique imaging is a simple and effective solution to the problem of coil-related saturation effects.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.6 MB).