Fast three-dimensional whole-body post-mortem magnetic resonance angiography

Purpose

The goal of this study was to perform whole-body post-mortem magnetic resonance (PMMR) angiography with imaging quality comparable to that of post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) angiography.

Methods

After contrast medium injection into the arterial and venous vascular system of seven human corpses PMMR was performed using a fast three-dimensional T1 weighted spoiled gradient-echo sequence, followed by PMCT imaging. The contrast medium volumes inside the descending aorta and inside the inferior vena cava were measured both on PMMR and on PMCT images by means of image segmentation. Visualization quality of arterial and venous vessels as a function of contrast filling was scored according to a four-point scale and compared using the paired Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Results

The contrast medium volume in the descending aorta decreased 12% on average from PMMR to PMCT angiography, while the contrast medium volume in the inferior vena cava increased by 11% on average. A total of 410 vessels were analyzed. Scores for all vessels were statistically significantly smaller for the PMMR angiography when compared to PMCT angiography (p = 0.01). No statistically significant differences were found for the subgroups of large vessels (p = 0.21), for the head and neck (p = 0.16) or the abdomen (p = 0.83) as well as for the thorax when the coronary arteries were left out (p = 0.23).

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that immediate image acquisition after contrast injection and rapid 3D whole-body image acquisition offers good image quality in PMMR angiography with a vascular contrast comparable to PMCT angiography.