Noncontrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography is comparable to color Doppler ultrasound for screening for renal artery stenosis, but is faster and shows more segments
Article Category: Brief communication (Original)
Publié en ligne: 31 janv. 2017
Pages: 373 - 378
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5372/1905-7415.0903.406
Mots clés
© 2015 Siripat Saejeung, Kawalee Sasiwimolphan, Laddawan Vajragupta, Somjai Wangsuphachart, Monravee Tumkosit
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Background
Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) is an accurate and noninvasive method used to screen for renal artery stenosis (RAS). Color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) and noncontrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (NC-MRA) are considered noninvasive imaging modalities, which require no contrast medium injection.
Objectives
To compare NC-MRA with CDUS for screening for RAS using CE-MRA as a reference standard.
Methods
The study was approved by our institutional review board with written informed consent was obtained from all patient participants. We prospectively enrolled 42 consecutive patients who were suspected of having RAS. All patients underwent CDUS, NC-MRA, and CE-MRA of renal arteries. The attending radiologist interpreted the CDUS after scanning the patient. CE-MRA and NC-MRA were separately interpreted by consensus between two radiologists. Data including (1) number of visualized renal arteries, (2) agreement between CDUS and NC-MRA compared with CE-MRA, and (3) time taken for examination, were evaluated.
Results
We included 102 renal arteries and 306 renal artery segments in the study. NC-MRA visualized significantly more renal artery segments (258 segments) than CDUS (286 segments, P = 0.0004). NC-MRA and CDUS were in good agreement with CE-MRA when determining the degree of stenosis (Kw = 0.71 and Kw = 0.66, respectively). NC-MRA took a significantly shorter time for examination (21.2 minutes) than CDUS (47.5 minutes, P <0.0001).
Conclusions
NC-MRA is comparable to CDUS for screening for renal artery stenosis. However, NC-MRA can visualize more renal artery segments and require shorter examination time than CDUS.