0.5 M Gd chelate (Magnevist®) versus 1.0 M Gd chelate (Gadovist®):: Dose-independent effect on image quality of pelvic three-dimensional MR-angiography

To compare the effect on image quality of a 1.0 M gadolinium (Gd) chelate to that of a conventional 0.5 M Gd chelate, five healthy volunteers and seven patients with angiographically documented aorto-iliac disease underwent a mono-station three-dimensional magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) exam (Siemens SONATA(R), Erlangen, Germany) twice, once using Gadovist(R) 1.0 and the other time using Magnevist(R) as the contrast agent. All subjects received a fixed volume of Gadovist(R) 1.0, corresponding to a dose between 0.1 and 0.15 mmol/kg body weight followed by a saline flush. For the Magnevist(R), exam, the contrast agent volumes and flow rates were doubled. For both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the angiographic data sets, the arterial tree was divided into nine segments. 1 M Gadovist(R) 1.0-enhanced three-dimensional MRA data sets were characterized by significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) values compared to 0.5 M Magnevist(R)-enhanced images. The data revealed mean SNR/CNR increases exceeding 70% (P < 0.01). Although there was no statistically significant difference in the rating of image quality (P > 0.05), the Gadovist(R) 1.0 exam led to better delineation of the arterial morphology, especially of small vessels. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.