This book will familiarize the reader with the basic principles of 3D contrast MRA. All relevant technical aspects are addressed, imaging protocols are provided, and tailored imaging strategies are described for different vascular regions. The book also includes a glossary of relevant terms and an extensive bibliography.

Non-invasive, high resolution contrast arteriography without arte rial catheterization or nephrotoxicity is now possible. It is accomplished by using paramagnetic contrast and an MR scanner. Paramagnetic contrast media is injected intravenously and image data are collected as the con trast circulates through the vascular territory of interest. Due to the strong enhancement effect of paramagnetic contrast media, a small dose injected as an intravenous bolus is sufficient to briefly enhance the entire arterial vascular tree. This allows imaging with a large field-of-view that encompasses an extensive region of vascular anatomy. By using a 3D gradient echo pulse sequence on magnets with high performance gra dient systems, high resolution 3D volumes of image data are acquired in a single breath-hold. This has vastly improved image quality of 3D con trast MRA exams, particularly in the chest and abdomen. Subsequent post-processing allows an angiographic display of image data in any desired obliquity. The success of this technique is reflected by its incorporation into clinical practice in centers throughout the world. It has been applied to multiple vascular territories, using various magnets, and slightly differ ing imaging strategies. As is the ca se for all MR imaging techniques, a thorough understanding of the underlying mechanisms and proper technique are essential to fully exploit the diagnostic potential of this new form of angiography. This book will familiarize the reader with the basic principles of 3D contrast MRA.

Non-invasive, high resolution contrast arteriography without arterial catheterization or nephrotoxicity is possible using Gadolinium contrast and an MR scanner. The success of this technique is reflected by its incorporation into clinical practice in centers throughout the world. It has been applied to multiple vascular territories, using a variety of magnets, and imaging strategies. A thorough understanding of the underlying mechanisms and proper technique are essential to fully exploit the diagnostic potential of this new form of angiography. This book will familiarize the reader with the basic principles of 3D Contrast MRA. All relevant technical aspects are addressed, imaging protocols are provided, and tailored imaging strategies are described for different vascular regions. The book also includes a glossary.

Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) continues to undergo exciting technological advances that are rapidly being translated into clinical practice. It also has evident advantages over other imaging modalities, including CT angiography and ultrasonography. With the aid of numerous high-quality illustrations, this book reviews the current role of MRA of the body. It is divided into three sections. The first section is devoted to issues relating to image acquisition technique and sequences, which are explored in depth. The second and principal section addresses the clinical applications of MRA in various parts of the body, including the neck vessels, the spine, the thoracic aorta and pulmonary vessels, the heart and coronary arteries, the abdominal aorta and renal arteries, and peripheral vessels. The final section considers the role of MRA in patients undergoing liver or pancreas and kidney transplantation. This book will be an invaluable aid to all radiologists who work with MRA.

Magnetic Resonance Angiography: Principles and Applications is a comprehensive text covering magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in current clinical use. The first part of the book focuses on techniques, with chapters on contrast-enhanced MRA, time of flight, phase contrast, time-resolved angiography, and coronary MRA, as well as several chapters devoted to new non-contrast MRA techniques. Additionally, chapters describe in detail specific topics such as high-field MRA, susceptibility-weighted imaging, acceleration strategies such as parallel imaging, vessel wall imaging, targeted contrast agents, and low dose contrast-enhanced MRA. The second part of the book covers clinical applications of MRA, with each chapter describing the MRA techniques and protocols for a particular disease and vascular territory, as well as the pathology and imaging findings relevant to the disease state being discussed. Magnetic Resonance Angiography: Principles and Applications is designed to bring together into a single textbook all of the MRA techniques in clinical practice today and will be a valuable resource for practicing radiologists and other physicians involved in the diagnosis and treatment of vascular diseases, as well as biomedical physicists, MRI technologists, residents, and fellows. Editors James C. Carr, MD, is the Director of Cardiovascular Imaging and Associate Professor of Radiology and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Timothy J. Carroll, PhD, is the Director of MRI Research and Associate Professor in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA. Magnetic Resonance Angiography: Principles and Applications is designed to bring together into a single textbook all of the MRA techniques in clinical practice today and will be a valuable resource for practicing radiologists and other physicians involved in the diagnosis and treatment of vascular diseases, as well as biomedical physicists, MRI technologists, residents, and fellows. Editors James C. Carr, MD, is Director of Cardiovascular Imaging and Associate Professor of Radiology and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Timothy J. Carroll, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Editors James C. Carr, MD, is Director of Cardiovascular Imaging and Associate Professor of Radiology and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Timothy J. Carroll, PhD, is the Director of MRI Research and Associate Professor in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Radiology at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.

The advent of contrast-enhanced MRA in the early to mid 1990s revolutionized the clinical approach to vascular imaging: an accurate non-invasive imaging modality, not requiring ionizing radiation or potentially nephrotoxic iodinated contrast media, was able to compete with the more hazardous and invasive catheter angiography. Today, MRA is a safe, easy-to-perform procedure routinely used in most imaging centers, and the continued development of faster, more powerful magnets and more effective contrast agents is increasingly helping to overcome many of the early limitations of the technique. Subdivided into three sections (technique, indications and practical applications) and written by internationally renowned experts in the field, this volume stands out in the current literature on MRA by providing: - detailed information on sequence parameters for different magnets and vascular territories for the optimization of the MRA technique; - a broad overview of the principal indications for which contrast-enhanced MR angiography is ideally suited; - the typical MR imaging findings associated with various pathologies; - the appropriateness of contrast-enhanced MRA as compared with other modalities, such as CTA and CEUS; - the potential pitfalls and limitations of the technique in clinical routine. The volume will prove invaluable to radiologists and clinicians wishing to expand, improve, or consolidate their routine approach to vascular MR imaging.