The native balanced steady state with free precession (bSSFP) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) technique has been shown to provide high diagnostic image quality for thoracic aortic disease. This study compares a 3D radial respiratory self-navigated native MRA (native-SN-MRA) based on a bSSFP sequence with conventional Cartesian, 3D, contrast-enhanced MRA (CE-MRA) with navigator-gated respiration control for image quality of the entire thoracic aorta. Thirty-one aortic native-SN-MRA were compared retrospectively (63.9 ± 10.3 years) to 61 CE-MRA (63.1 ± 11.7 years) serving as a reference standard. Image quality was evaluated at the aortic root/ascending aorta, aortic arch and descending aorta. Scan time was recorded. In 10 patients with both MRA sequences, aortic pathologies were evaluated and normal and pathologic aortic diameters were measured. The influence of artifacts on image quality was analyzed. Compared to the overall image quality of CE-MRA, the overall image quality of native-SN-MRA was superior for all segments analyzed (aortic root/ascending, p < 0.001; arch, p < 0.001, and descending, p = 0.005). Regarding artifacts, the image quality of native-SN-MRA remained superior at the aortic root/ascending aorta and aortic arch before and after correction for confounders of surgical material (i.e., susceptibility-related artifacts) (p = 0.008 both) suggesting a benefit in terms of motion artifacts. Native-SN-MRA showed a trend towards superior intraindividual image quality, but without statistical significance. Intraindividually, the sensitivity and specificity for the detection of aortic disease were 100% for native-SN-MRA. Aortic diameters did not show a significant difference (p = 0.899). The scan time of the native-SN-MRA was significantly reduced, with a mean of 05:56 ± 01:32 min vs. 08:51 ± 02:57 min in the CE-MRA (p < 0.001). Superior image quality of the entire thoracic aorta, also regarding artifacts, can be achieved with native-SN-MRA, especially in motion prone segments, in addition to a shorter acquisition time.

中文翻译：

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主动脉患者集体中整个胸主动脉的径向自导航原生磁共振血管造影与导航门控对比增强 MRA 的比较

具有自由进动 (bSSFP) 磁共振血管造影 (MRA) 技术的本机平衡稳态已被证明可为胸主动脉疾病提供高诊断图像质量。本研究比较了基于 bSSFP 序列的 3D 径向呼吸自导航原生 MRA (native-SN-MRA) 与传统笛卡尔、3D、对比度增强 MRA (CE-MRA) 与导航门控呼吸控制的图像质量整个胸主动脉。将 31 个主动脉原生 SN-MRA（63.9 ± 10.3 年）与作为参考标准的 61 个 CE-MRA（63.1 ± 11.7 年）进行回顾性比较。在主动脉根部/升主动脉、主动脉弓和降主动脉处评估图像质量。记录扫描时间。在具有两种 MRA 序列的 10 名患者中，评估了主动脉病变并测量了正常和病理性主动脉直径。分析了伪影对图像质量的影响。与 CE-MRA 的整体图像质量相比，native-SN-MRA 的整体图像质量在分析的所有节段中均优于（主动脉根部/升序，p < 0.001；弓形，p < 0.001，降序，p = 0.005） . 关于伪影，在对手术材料的混杂因素（即易感性相关伪影）（p = 0.008 两者）进行矫正前后，在主动脉根部/升主动脉和主动脉弓处，原生 SN-MRA 的图像质量仍然优于在运动伪影方面。Native-SN-MRA 显示出更高的个体内图像质量的趋势，但没有统计学意义。在个体中，对于原生 SN-MRA，检测主动脉疾病的敏感性和特异性为 100%。主动脉直径没有显示出显着差异（p = 0.899）。本机-SN-MRA 的扫描时间显着减少，平均为 05:56 ± 01:32 分钟，而 CE-MRA 中的平均值为 08:51 ± 02:57 分钟（p < 0.001）。除了更短的采集时间外，还可以使用原生 SN-MRA 实现整个胸主动脉的卓越图像质量，尤其是在运动易发段中。