Monitoring carotid arterial stiffness using non-contrast-enhanced 4D MR angiography

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Imaging
• Medical Physics
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Carotid artery stiffness is a key indicator of vascular health, traditionally assessed using ultrasound.
• Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) is used for carotid anatomy but lacks dynamic stiffness assessment.
• A need exists for advanced imaging techniques to dynamically evaluate carotid stiffness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize stiffness-related parameters of carotid arteries using dynamic 3D MRA.
• To evaluate the repeatability of dynamic 3D MRA for stiffness assessment compared to ultrasound.
• To explore the potential of MRA in assessing vascular age through dynamic properties.

Main Methods:

• A non-contrast-enhanced free-running 3D radial MRA sequence was employed in 18 healthy volunteers.
• Diameter changes during the cardiac cycle were measured via MRA and ultrasound to compute stiffness parameters.
• Repeatability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Main Results:

• Dynamic 3D MRA demonstrated high repeatability for carotid stiffness quantification (ICC 0.93-0.95) compared to ultrasound (ICC 0.51-0.78).
• Significant differences in stiffness parameters were observed between younger and senior age cohorts.
• MRA showed a relative overestimation of RDC in seniors, impacting AC and E calculations.

Conclusions:

• Non-contrast-enhanced 4D MRA can repeatably quantify carotid stiffness, complementing ultrasound data.
• Dynamic free-running MRA offers noninvasive assessment of carotid dynamic properties and anatomy.
• This technique shows potential for assessing vascular age and offers superior repeatability over ultrasound.