Purpose: With the introduction of MR angiography (MRA) into clinical routine, arteriosclerotic lesions of the supraaortic vessels may be well demonstrated.
Material and methods: The comparison between Multislab MRA (gradient echo, TOF) and X-ray angiography (XRA) as reference in 70 patients suspicious of stenotic lesions in the internal carotid artery proved the high reliability of these methods.
Results: In determining the degree of stenosis, according to the NASCET study (North American Symptomatic Endarterectomy Trial), a correlation between MRA and XRA of 92.3% could be calculated. The principal problem of MRA is the overestimation of high-grade stenoses; we observed 5 false-positive results in severe stenosis. Sensitivity and specificity were 95.6 and 92.6%, respectively, for detection of severe (> 60%) stenosis.
Conclusion: Despite its limitations, MRA is a clinically important noninvasive technique for preoperative evaluation of patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy.