Superficial femoral artery occlusive disease severity correlates with MR cine phase-contrast flow measurements

✍ Scribed by Kiyarash Mohajer; Honglei Zhang; Daniel Gurell; Hale Ersoy; Bernard Ho; K. Craig Kent; Martin R. Prince

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 318 KB
• Volume: 23
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1053-1807
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.20514

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate how cine phase‐contrast (PC) flow data correlate with the severity of peripheral vascular disease (PVD).

Materials and Methods

Flow waveforms were obtained in 48 patients proximal and distal to superficial femoral artery (SFA) disease using the 2D cine PC technique with velocity encoding (venc) = 100 cm/second. Flow data were correlated with SFA disease severity and compared with data from nine healthy volunteers.

Results

Of 96 arterial segments in 48 patients, 26 were patent or only mildly stenotic, 35 had moderate‐to‐severe stenosis, and 35 were occluded. The flow patterns tended to become low‐resistant below severe stenoses or occlusion. The mean peak flow velocity above/below SFA lesions was significantly higher in patients with severe disease (1.9 ± 1.0, P = 0.01) or occlusion (2.0 ± 1.0, P = 0.003) compared to normal volunteers (1.4 ± 0.6). The delay in peak velocity below the lesions showed a significant positive correlation with lesion severity (r = 0.65, P < 0.001). The mean flow volume ratio above/below SFA lesions was greater in patients with occluded vessels compared to normal volunteers (3.9 and 2.3 respectively; P = 0.04).

Conclusion

Cine PC flow waveform changes across atherosclerotic lesions correlate with disease severity. This may help determine which lesions are hemodynamically significant. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.