Comparison of gated and nongated fast multislice black-blood carotid imaging using rapid extended coverage and inflow/outflow saturation techniques

Purpose: To comparatively analyze two fast in vivo multi-slice black-blood carotid artery vessel wall imaging techniques with and without cardiac gating. Materials and Methods: Eight subjects with carotid artery atherosclerosis, and four healthy subjects were studied using two black-blood multislice techniques: rapid extended coverage double inversion recovery (REX-DIR), and inflow/outflow saturation band (IOSB) rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) multislice acquisitions. Quantitative, qualitative, and morphometric analyses were performed on images. Results: Gating produced significantly lower values for the REX-DIR sequence with respect to signal intensity in muscle and the carotid artery wall, whereas it had no effect on flow suppression compared to nongated images. For the IOSB sequences, gating had no significant effect on signal intensity of muscle and the carotid artery wall, but worsened flow suppression. REX-DIR and IOSB sequences were statistically different with respect to signal intensity of muscle (with REX-DIR sequences having lower values), while no statistical significance was observed for flow suppression and wall delineation. A morphologic analysis of the vessel wall and lumen comparing REX-DIR gated, IOSB gated, REX-DIR nongated,and IOSB nongated sequences revealed no significant differences between the acquisition techniques tested. Conclusion: Nongated sequences may be used instead of gated sequences in atherosclerotic vessel wall imaging without compromising image quality. This may shorten examination time and improve patient comfort.