[Examination of Non-saturation Pulse 3D TOF MRA in Acute Cerebral Infarction]

We investigated flip angle (FA) and cerebrovascular imaging performance in three-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (3D TOF-MRA) without using a venous signal saturation pulse in the diagnosis of acute cerebral infarction.

3D TOF-MRA was performed in healthy volunteers at FAs of 9°-21° without using a venous signal saturation pulse. The contrast of cerebral arteries, veins, and parenchyma was measured, and the visualization of blood vessels was compared by visual evaluation.

Cerebral artery contrast was highest at a 19° FA, and the visual evaluation also showed the highest rated results at a 19° FA. The cerebral venous contrast did not depend on the FA, and it was almost constant.

A repetition time of 10 ms and a 19° FA are the optimal settings for 3D TOF-MRA without using a venous signal saturation pulse, which reduces the imaging time by approximately 60% compared to the conventional method.