• Shambhavi Venkataraman, Richard C Semelka, Susan Weeks, Larissa Braga, and Georgeta Vaidean.
• Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599-7510, USA.
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2003 Jan 1; 17 (1): 43-53.

PurposeTo evaluate magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the pelvis for the examination of the aorto-iliac system using arterial phase 3-D gradient echo and interstitial phase 2-D fat-suppressed spoiled gradient-echo (SGE), with comparison to surgery and angiography.Materials And MethodsNinety MR angiograms performed on 79 consecutive patients were analyzed, retrospectively, for the presence of narrowing, aneurysm, and dissection. Comparisons were made with angiography and surgery in 50 examinations, and a weighted kappa statistic test was applied to assess agreement. MR examinations were performed at 1.5T 3-D fast imaging in steady state precession (FISP) acquired immediately, and fat-suppressed SGE in the interstitial phase following gadolinium administration.ResultsMRA had overall sensitivities of 100% at aortic segments, 100% at common iliac, 93.8% at external, and 95.7% at internal iliac, and specificities of 100% at aortic segments, 89.7% at common iliac, 95.2% at external iliac, and 88.7% at internal iliac in detection of vascular disease. The agreement of MRA with the angiography and surgery yielded a weighted kappa statistic of 0.97 at the aortic, 0.94 at the common, 0.85 at the external, and 0.82 at the internal iliac segments.ConclusionThis study demonstrates an excellent performance of MRA in the evaluation of aorto-iliac arterial system and almost perfect agreement with angiography and surgery at all vascular levels.Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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