High-spatial-resolution contrast-enhanced MR angiography of the intracranial venous system with fourfold accelerated two-dimensional sensitivity encoding.

Abstract

Informed consent was obtained; the study was HIPAA compliant and institutional review board approved. Fourfold accelerated (FFA) two-dimensional (2D) sensitivity encoding (SENSE) (65 seconds) was prospectively compared with its nonaccelerated counterpart (4 minutes 20 seconds) for diagnostic image quality and sharpness of visualization of blood vessels at 1.5 T with three-dimensional (3D) intracranial contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance venography in 18 consecutive volunteers (10 men, eight women; mean age, 48.4 years) and two patients (55-year-old man, 30-year-old woman). Two readers compared FFA 2D SENSE results with results from its nonaccelerated counterpart; they rated visualization of large and medium sinuses as equivalent (P>.1) and that of small deep cerebral veins (P<.01) and superficial cerebral veins (P<.001) as superior. Overall diagnostic image quality ratings were excellent for 62% and 80% of nonaccelerated and FFA 2D SENSE results, respectively (P<.05). FFA 2D SENSE may become the method of choice for fast visualization of intracranial venous vasculature in clinical practice.