Maki Amano

Metallic artifacts of coronary and iliac arteries stents in mr angiography and contrast-enhanced CT

Metallic artifacts of intravascular stents were assessed with MR angiography and contrast-enhanced spiral CT. Stainless steel showed less metal artifact than tantalum stent in CT. Metallic artifact in coronary and iliac arteries treated with tantalum stent was not remarkable in MR angiography. Contrast-enhanced CT might be preferable to assess patency of arteries treated with stainless steel stent. while MR angiography was useful in depicting intraluminal signal in tantalum stent.

Magnetic resonance portography using contrast-enhanced fat-saturated three-dimensional steady-state free precession imaging.

To assess the feasibility of contrast‐enhanced fat‐saturated three‐dimensional steady‐state free precession (FIESTA) imaging for contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) portography.

Magnetic resonance imaging of myelofibrosis STIR and gadolinium-enhanced MR images

MR images of myelofibrosis were assessed in twelve patients. Myelofibrosis showed low intensity in T1-weighted images, high intensity in STIR images, and enhancement after gadolinium injection. MR spectroscopy detected a large water resonance. MR imaging was consistent with histological findings and useful in evaluating the extracellular space in bone marrow of myelofibrosis, but it was of no value in differentiating between primary and secondary myelofibrosis.

Fat-suppressed three-dimensional MR angiography technique with elliptical centric view order and no prolonged breath-holding time

To determine the appropriate rate of fat‐suppression pulses (using spec IR—spectral selective inversion recovery) for fat‐suppressed 3D magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with an elliptical centric view order.

MRI Texture Analysis of Background Parenchymal Enhancement of the Breast

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine texture parameters reflecting the background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) of the breast, which were acquired using texture analysis (TA). Methods We investigated 52 breasts of the 26 subjects who underwent dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI. One experienced reader scored BPE visually (i.e., minimal, mild, moderate, and marked). TA, including 12 texture parameters, was performed to distinguish the BPE scores quantitatively. Relationships between the visual BPE scores and texture parameters were evaluated using analysis of variance and receiver operating characteristic analysis. Results The variance and skewness of signal intensity were useful for differentiating between moderate and mild or minimal BPE or between mild and minimal BPE, respectively, with the cutoff value of 356.7 for variance and that of 0.21 for skewness. Some TA features could be useful for defining breast lesions from the BPE. Conclusion TA may be useful for quantifying the BPE of the breast.

Centrally fat-saturated three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography of the abdomen using selective central fat-saturation of k-space.

To assess the usefulness of centrally fat‐saturated three‐dimensional magnetic resonance (MR) angiography of the abdomen using an elliptical centric view order and selective placement of fat‐saturation pulses in the central 30% portion of the k‐space in terms of fat signal reduction, image contrast of post‐contrast images, and breath‐holding time.