Vessel Wall Imaging of the Femoral Artery with a Dynamic T2 Preparation Pulse for Peripheral Arterial Disease Prediction

Aim:The aim of this study was to investigate whether vessel wall imaging using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a T2 preparation pulse with dynamic implementation could accurately predict a proxy for atherosclerosis, carotid artery intima media thickness as measured by ultrasound. Ultrasound is still investigator dependent and a follow up of the femoral artery on its way to the foot and especially of the wall thickness is not possible due to anatomical reasons. Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) is a common disease in developed countries and it would be very helpful to have a predictive marker such as vessel wall thickness.Methods:Five healthy volunteers and seven patients with known PAD underwent MRI of the femoral artery on a 1.5-T scanner with a SENSE-XL-Torso coil (Philips GmbH Market DACH, Hamburg, Germany) using TRANCE and a dynamic T2 preparation pulse afterwards. These measurements were compared with intima media thickness of the carotid artery as assessed by ultrasound.Results:As measured by MRI, patients with PAD had significantly thicker vessel walls than healthy volunteers (p < 0.01). Carotid artery thickness matched femoral artery in patients with known PAD (Pearson r = -0,99, p < 0,014). Interobserver reproducibility was good (bias = -0.0088, 95% limits of agreement = -0.1089 to 0.09123), and ultrasound imaging results correlated closely to those from MRI (Pearson r = -0.99, p < 0.027).Conclusion:Conducting MRI with a dynamic implementation of a T2 preparation pulse seems to be an adequate, non-invasive method to assess vessel wall thickness as a prognostic factor for atherosclerosis without using contrast agent.