Examination of Non-saturation Pulse 3D TOF MRA in Acute Cerebral Infarction

PURPOSE: We investigated flip angle (FA) and cerebrovascular imaging performance in three-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (3D TOF-MRA) without using a venous signal saturation pulse in the diagnosis of acute cerebral infarction. METHODS: 3D TOF-MRA was performed in healthy volunteers at FAs of 9°-21° without using a venous signal saturation pulse. The contrast of cerebral arteries, veins, and parenchyma was measured, and the visualization of blood vessels was compared by visual evaluation. RESULTS: Cerebral artery contrast was highest at a 19° FA, and the visual evaluation also showed the highest rated results at a 19° FA. The cerebral venous contrast did not depend on the FA, and it was almost constant. CONCLUSION: A repetition time of 10 ms and a 19° FA are the optimal settings for 3D TOF-MRA without using a venous signal saturation pulse, which reduces the imaging time by approximately 60% compared to the conventional method.