Investigation of 3D reduced field of view carotid atherosclerotic plaque imaging

To investigate the feasibility of using CUBE based reduced field of view imaging in atherosclerotic plaque imaging. Twenty-four patients were enrolled in this prospective study (13 males, 11 females, age 63 +/- 10). All patients underwent MRI exams consisting of 3D TOF, MPRAGE, iMSDE, DANTE, full FOV and reduced FOV CUBE imaging; 18 patients under went contrast enhanced imaging. The resulting images from different imaging sequences were assessed in terms of blood suppression, SNR, motion artifacts and vascular clarity. Reduced field of view CUBE out-performed MPRAGE, iMSDE and full FOV CUBE in blood suppression (P < 0.05); outperformed MPRAGE, iMSDE and DANTE in SNR(P < 005); outperformed MPRAGE and iMSDE in motion artifacts (P < 005); outperformed MPRAGE and iMSDE in vascular clarity (P < 0.05). The identifications of hemorrhage and calcification components were consistent between full FOV CUBE and reduced FOV CUBE (P < 0.05). Overall, CUBE combined with reduced field of view imaging would be a promising method in atherosclerotic plaque imaging.