Intra- and Extracranial MR Venography: Technical Notes, Clinical Application, and Imaging Development.

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Intra- and Extracranial MR Venography: Technical Notes, Clinical Application, and Imaging Development.

Behav Neurol. 2016;2016:2694504

Authors: Paoletti M, Germani G, De Icco R, Asteggiano C, Zamboni P, Bastianello S

Abstract
Scientific debate over chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) has drawn attention to venous system involvement in a series of pathologic brain conditions. In the last few decades, the MRI venography (MRV) field has developed a number of valuable sequences to better investigate structural anatomy, vessel patency, and flow characteristics of venous drainage in the intra- and extracranial systems. A brief two-tier protocol is proposed to encompass the study of intra- and extracranial venous drainage with and without contrast administration, respectively. Contrast-enhanced protocol is based on time-resolved contrast-enhanced MRV of the whole region plus extracranial flow quantification through 2D Cine phase contrast (PC); non-contrast-enhanced protocol includes intracranial 3D PC, extracranial 2D time of flight (TOF), and 2D Cine PC flow quantification. Total scanning time is reasonable for clinical applications: approximately seven minutes is allocated for the contrast protocol (most of which is due to 2D Cine PC), while the noncontrast protocol accounts for around twenty minutes. We believe that a short though exhaustive MRI scan of the whole intra- and extracranial venous drainage system can be valuable for a variety of pathologic conditions, given the possible venous implication in several neurological conditions.

PMID: 27340338 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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