Objective: To demonstrate lower extremity peripheral vein bypass graft wall thickness changes over time in a patient using very high spatial resolution cardiac gated, black blood inner volume three-dimensional (3D) fast spin echo (FSE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Case report: A 52-year-old diabetic man with a history of hyperlipidemia underwent uncomplicated bypass grafting for an asymptomatic 5.2 cm popliteal artery aneurysm using reversed great saphenous vein. A segment of the bypass graft was studied at 1 and 6 months after surgery with cardiac gated inner volume 3D-FSE imaging with non-interpolated 0.195 mm(3) voxel volumes (0.3125 x 0.3125 x 2 mm). T1- and T2-weighted images were acquired in 10 min per contrast weighting. Graft imaging at one month after implantation illustrates expansion of the outer wall of the graft that partially resolves 5 months later.
Conclusion: In this patient, expansion of the lower extremity peripheral bypass graft wall can be characterized in clinical scan times with a 3D-FSE MRI protocol using highly selective inner volume excitation followed by non-selective refocusing pulses. The resulting 3D images can potentially be used to study the biology of the vessel wall.