Magnetic resonance angiography and the peripheral vasculature: how useful is it?
E Kent Yucel
Correspondence Boston VA Healthcare Systems, West Roxbury Division, 1400 VFW Parkway, West Roxbury, MA 02132, USA
Email kent.yucel@med.va.gov
This article has no abstract so we have provided the first paragraph of the full text.
Since its initial description more than 10 years ago, contrast-enhanced MRA has become the workhorse of modern MRA.1 It has come into routine use for the evaluation of acute and chronic aortic pathology. As Auerbach and Martin mention, MRA has become the primary screening technique for atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis but it has limitations, such as inability to image restenosis in metallic renal stents. Also, in contrast to atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis, the sensitivity of contrast-enhanced MRA for fibromuscular dysplasia has not yet been established. Given the more distal distribution of fibromuscular dysplasia, as well as the need for greater resolution of detail, the sensitivity might be lower than that for atherosclerotic disease. If fibromuscular dysplasia is a leading consideration in younger patients, X-ray angiography might be required for a definitive renal artery evaluation.
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