Comparison of Gadofosveset Trisodium and Gadobenate Dimeglumine During Time-Resolved Thoracic MR Angiography at 3T
Received 26 March 2010; accepted 26 May 2010. published online 23 July 2010. Corrected Proof
Rationale and Objectives
Gadofosveset trisodium is a blood-pool contrast agent (BPA) that shows a less pronounced r1 relaxivity advantage over gadobenate dimeglumine at 3T than at 1.5T. However, there are few data on image quality during first-pass imaging of the thoracic vasculature with gadofosveset trisodium at 3 T. Therefore, it was the aim of this study to compare first-pass imaging characteristics of gadofosveset trisodium to gadobenate dimeglumine during time-resolved contrast-enhanced three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography (CE MRA) at 3 T.
Materials and Methods
Twenty volunteers underwent time-resolved CE MRA on a 3 T magnetic resonance (MR) system with a standard eight-channel phased-array surface coil, receiving either gadofosveset trisodium (blood pool agent [BPA], n = 10) or gadobenate dimeglumine (standard contrast agent, [SCA], n = 10). Image quality was assessed by two independent readers using a Likert scale ranging from 0 = poor quality to 3 = excellent quality, and relative signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios were calculated.
Results
Equally good to excellent first-pass image quality was confirmed for time-resolved CE MRA using BPA and SCA (arteries, 2.8 ± 0.2 and 2.6 ± 0.4; veins, 2.5 ± 0.3 and 2.2 ± 0.4; artifacts, 2.4 ± 0.2 and 2.3 ± 0.1). Signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios showed nonsignificant differences, except for left subclavian artery values. There was an overall nonsignificant superiority in signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios for standard contrast agent in arterial values and BPA regarding venous values.
Conclusions
Despite a markedly decreased r1/r2 relaxivity ratio, first-pass imaging characteristics of gadofosveset trisodium and gadobenate dimeglumine are equally well suited for first pass time-resolved CE MRA at 3 T.
aDepartment of Radiology, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 600 Highland Avenue, CSC E1/322, Madison, WI 53729
bDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology, Medical Physics, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
cDepartment of Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
dDepartment of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
eDepartment of Radiology, University Hospital Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Address correspondence to: A.F.
Dr Markl receives funding from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Bonn, Germany; grant MA 2383/4-1) and Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (Bonn, Germany; grant 01EV0706).
ABSTRACT