Abstract
Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), a non-invasive, radiation-free imaging technique dependent on the body’s natural magnetic properties in blood vessels, investigates abnormalities within the aorta. MRA is generally divided into Gadolinium (Gd) based contrast enhanced MRA (CE-MRA) and non-contrast enhanced MRA (NCE-MRA), used for both qualitative and quantitative assessment of the aorta. These sequences can be exemplified with a variety of aortic abnormalities including aortic dissection, coarctation of the aorta, genetic disorders with aortic pathologies (e.g., Marfan’s syndrome, Loeys-Dietz syndrome), ascending and descending aortic aneurysms, Takayasu Arteritis, and various anomalies concerning the aortic arch as well as the aortic valve. While MRA can be applied to nearly any vessel in the body, the primary objective of this chapter is to focus on the role of MRA in the accurate quantitative and qualitative assessment of congenital and acquired aortic diseases. In many hospitals, a significant number of patients who are referred to MRA imaging is comprised of patients with aortic diseases, especially coarctation of aorta [Taylor, 2008]. The diagnostic utility of MRA is illustrated by a variety of pediatric aortic abnormalities.
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