Diagnostic importance of magnetic resonance angiography in arterial reconstructive surgery

Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) permits the non-invasive visualisation of blood flow in arteries and veins. It has an enormous potential in imaging of various vascular pathologies and it has been establishing itself as a reliable alternative to widespread contrast X-ray methods explaining morphology of vascular system. This advanced and safe diagnostic method is very rarely used in the clinical practice of vascular surgeons in Slovak republic. The aim of this report is to outline a clinical importance of MRA for arterial reconstructive surgery, its advantages, limitation as an imagine technique and its practical application in different anatomical areas of the human body which are related to operative activity of vascular surgeons. It is intended for briefly comparing MRA with other vascular imagine techniques more common used in clinical practice of our surgical and vascular surgery departments and outpatient clinics.