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Updated: May 13, 2026
Human Fetal Blood Flow Quantification with Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Motion Compensation
Published on: January 7, 2021
Repeatability and internal consistency of abdominal 2D and 4D phase contrast MR flow measurements
Andrew L Wentland1, Thomas M Grist, Oliver Wieben
1Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, 1111 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI, USA 53705-2275, USA. alwentland@wisc.edu
Rationale And Objectives:
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).
Materials And Methods:
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.
Results:
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.
Conclusion:
The 2D and 4D techniques demonstrated strong repeatability and internal consistency of flow measurements in the renal arteries and pararenal aorta.
