Fully self-gated dual-venc 5D flow MRI for simultaneous imaging of the cardiovascular and portal venous systems

Motivation: Simultaneous analysis of cardiovascular and hepatic hemodynamics is crucial to assess the relationship between the two systems, especially for patients with cirrhosis and those receiving related treatments. Goal(s): To develop a technique for simultaneous imaging of the hemodynamics of the cardiovascular and portal venous systems. Approach: We developed a fully self-gated dual-venc 5D flow sequence and validated in six healthy volunteers and two patients with cirrhosis. Results: Results of the 5D flow sequence showed a high degree of consistency and correlated well with the 2D phase-contrast MRI and CT venography-images. Impact: This technique can simultaneously image the flow of the cardiovascular and portal venous systems and is potentially useful to study the cardio-hepatic hemodynamic interactions for the diagnosis or evaluation of related diseases.