Repeatability and Internal Consistency of Abdominal 2D and 4D Phase Contrast MR Flow Measurements

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the repeatability and internal consistency of flow measurements in the renal arteries and pararenal aorta with the use of standard two-dimensional (2D) and novel four-dimensional (4D) phase contrast (PC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Ten healthy volunteers were imaged with a radially undersampled 4D PC technique centered over the renal arteries and with four 2D PC slices placed in the supra/infrarenal aorta and the left/right renal arteries; this MRI exam was performed twice on each subject. Flow measurements in all four vessels were computed from 2D and 4D PC data sets. Student's t-tests (P<.05) were used to assess differences between in-flow (suprarenal aorta) and out-flow (infrarenal aorta+left renal artery+right renal artery) for the 2D and 4D techniques, to compare in- and out-flow, and to compare repeated measurements of 2D and 4D flow measurements. No significant differences were found in repeated measurements of 2D (P=.15) or 4D (P=.39) data. No significant difference was found between 2D (3.4±2.8 mL/cardiac cycle) and 4D (3.5±2.7 mL/cardiac cycle) in- and out-flow differences (P=.88). Out-flow was greater than in-flow for 2D measurements (P=.003); no difference was found for 4D measurements. The 2D and 4D techniques demonstrated strong repeatability and internal consistency of flow measurements in the renal arteries and pararenal aorta.