MR imaging- versus conventional X-ray fluoroscopy-guided renal angioplasty in swine: prospective randomized comparison

PURPOSE: To test the hypothesis that the technical success rates, complication rates, and procedural times for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-guided percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and conventional (x-ray) fluoroscopy-guided PTA for treatment of renal artery stenosis are similar. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was animal care and use committee approved. After surgically inducing bilateral renal artery stenosis in 11 swine, the authors performed baseline digital subtraction angiography. They transferred each animal to a 1.5-T MR imaging unit and randomly decided which artery would be treated with MR-guided PTA. With MR imaging guidance, angioplastic devices were tracked by using active and passive techniques. Vascular depiction was achieved by using catheter-directed MR angiography. Stenotic vessels were dilated by using 5-6-mm-diameter balloon catheters. PTA was then performed in the contralateral artery by using conventional fluoroscopy-guided techniques. With the intention to treat, the authors compared the technical success (residual stenosis < 50%) rates, complication rates, and procedural times for each guidance method. They compared technical successes and complications by using the McNemar test and procedural times by using a paired t test, with P < .05 indicating a significant difference. RESULTS: The authors successfully dilated nine (82%) of 11 renal arteries with MR guidance and all 11 arteries (100%) with conventional fluoroscopic guidance. The difference was not significant (P = .5). Complications occurred in three (27%) arteries with MR guidance and in one (9%) artery with fluoroscopic guidance, with no significant differences (P = .5). The mean MR-guided PTA procedural time was 46 minutes longer than the fluoroscopy-guided PTA procedural time; this difference was significant (P = .01). CONCLUSION: In a small cohort of swine, the authors did not observe a significant difference between MR imaging- and conventional fluoroscopy-guided renal artery PTA in terms of success and complication rates. However, no evidence of similarity between the techniques should be assumed. Procedural times differed significantly.