MAGNETIC-RESONANCE ARTERIOGRAPHY, DUPLEX SONOGRAPHY AND CONVENTIONAL ARTERIOGRAPHY FOR EVALUATING PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL OCCLUSIVE DISEASE

A prospective controlled study of 41 peripheral arterial occlusions was carried out, comparing duplex sonography, magnetic resonance arteriography and contrast arteriography. 87.8 % of duplex sonography findings and 80.5 % of magnetic resonance arteriographies agreed with the appearances of contrast arteriography (gold standard). Duplex sonography tended to overestimate the length of an occluded segment by an average of 2 cm (0.5-5 cm), whereas magnetic resonance arteriography showed less deviation from contrast arteriography (+/-2 cm). The advantage of duplex sonography lies in its ability to provide morphological and functional information concerning the obliterated segment. Its disadvantage is that it can only demonstrate one segment and that the examination must be carried out in individual segments. Magnetic resonance arteriography provides vascular demonstration in several planes similar to angiography but signal-voids due to limited resolution and flow changes may limit diagnosis of occlusions. Additional phase contrast techniques may provide quantitative information on flow velocities and flow rates. Both duplex sonography and magnetic resonance arteriography are suitable methods for the non-invasive investigation of peripheral arterial occlusive disease.