Value of blood pool contrast agents in magnetic resonance angiography of the pelvis and lower extremities

Our objective was: (1) to determine the appropriate dose of new ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide particles for magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). This agent comprised of a single iron oxide crystal stabilized with a carbohydrate-polyethylene glycol coat (PEG-Ferron/NC 100150 injection); (2) to determine the proper flip angle for PEG-Ferron-enhanced 3 D time-of-flight (TOF) MRA sequence; and (3) to compare the enhancement of peripheral vessels following PEG-Ferron and GdDTPA-BMA. MRA parameters were: TR/TE = 50/2.1 ms, NEX = 1, FOV = 30 × 30 × 1.8 cm, and matrix = 256 × 128 × 64. In anesthetized beagle dogs (n = 10), the effects of PEG-Ferron and GdDTPA-BMA on regional signal were monitored for 45 min and compared. The lowest dose of PEG-Ferron (0.05 mmol/kg) produced the best enhancement of primary, secondary and tertiary vessels. The flip angle 60 ° provided better enhancement than 20 ° on contrast enhanced images. Unlike GdDTPA-BMA, PEG-Ferron allowed prolonged delineation (> 45 min) of the pelvis and lower extremities circulation. PEG-Ferron provided greater Contrast-to-noise ratio CNR (80.2 ± 6.2, P < 0.05) than GdDTPA-BMA (63.5 ± 2.5). It may be possible for blood pool contrast-enhanced 3 D TOF MRA to provide valuable information for visualization of vascular tree including guiding interventions. Received 6 August 1997; Revision received 25 November 1997; Accepted 3 February 1998