[MR-angiography with intravenous administration of Gd-DTPA]

We carried out phase contrast MR-angiography of the lower extremities with intravenous administration of Gd-DTPA. Five healthy male volunteers, 25 to 40 years of age, were examined with a 0.5T MRI unit. We used fast scen (gradient echo) technique and it took about 8 minutes for whole procedure. Images were obtained before and after intravenous injection of Gd-DTPA. Injection dose was 0.1 mmol/kg. In two cases, we got images with variable flip angles. However angles of 30 or 40 degrees were thought to be best on the scan with Gd-DTPA. In three cases, we repeated short time procedures for about 4 minutes each time and continued to check the signal intensities of vessels for as long as one hour. The signal intensities greatly increased soon after administration of Gd-DTPA, and then they gradually decreased, but for as long as 60 minutes after administration they remained much higher than those before administration of Gd-DTPA. MR-angiography with Gd-DTPA was found very useful to demonstrate the peripheral femoral vessels clearly. No significant side effect was noticed in any case. Therefore, this method was thought to be very useful clinically.