Comparison of contrast and noncontrast magnetic resonance angiography for quantitative analysis of thoracic arteries in young patients with congenital heart defects.

NC-MRA has been validated previously for qualitative evaluation of the thoracic aorta[ 3 ] and veins,[ 5 ] as well as the pulmonary arteries.[ 4 ] Gebker et al , showed that NC-MRA (SSFP), C-MRA, and turbo spin echo yielded equivalent measurements of the thoracic aorta in adults with aortic disease.[ 6 ] Francois et al , compared 3D SSFP and C-MRA for measurement of the thoracic aorta in adults with vascular disease and found, similar to our data, a nonsignificant trend toward smaller measurements using 3D SSFP.[ 7 ] More recently Potthast et al , in a comparison of 3D SSFP, C-MRA and two 2D sequences for measurement of the thoracic aorta in adults, confirmed the equivalence of the 3D imaging techniques.[ 8 ] These investigators found the 3D SSFP images to be sharper with better defined edges compared to C-MRA.

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