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[Magnetic resonance angiography of stents]
D Drevet1, F Beck, T Streichenberger
1Service de radiologie, Clinique Mutualiste Eugène André, Lyon.
Purpose:
To understand the behavior of stents during contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (MRA).
Materials And Methods:
Seven different types of stents are explored in vitro with spin echo (SE) T2 sequence and MRA sequences using classification of the intra-prothesis signal. Six patients with 11 different proximal stents are studied by Gadolinium enhanced MRA with the same classification.
Results:
Stent material is not the only determinant of behavior. In this way, one stainless steel stent produced less intra-luminal hyposignal than a nitinol device. Nevertheless, only a nitinol stent did not alter the intra-prothesis signal and allowed an appreciation of patency, despite a decrease of diameter and presence of edge artifacts.
Conclusion:
Even if stent compatibility is well known with MRI, even with Gadolinium, cannot be used alone to depict stenosis or diameter reduction. Even patency based on the presence of a constant signal, cannot be confirmed routinely with confidence: indeed, only a single stent does not modify intra-arterial signal.