Black-blood dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI of abdominal aortic aneurysms

PURPOSE: To develop a dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI protocol for imaging the aortic wall of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), and to investigate the repeatability and clinical correlation of novel biomarkers for rupture risk assessment. METHODS: A dedicated DCE protocol with black-blood contrast was applied to 20 patients with AAA, of which 16 underwent a second scan 6 months later. Semiquantitative DCE-derived parameters in the aneurysm wall were calculated, assessed for test-retest repeatability using within-subject coefficient of variation (wCV), and correlated with clinical measures (aneurysm diameter and growth rate) using Spearman's rank correlation. RESULTS: The developed protocol allows for accurate delineation of the aortic wall and calculation of semiquantitative DCE-derived parameters. The maximum enhancement (ME) and area under the curve (AUC) demonstrated good stability with wCVs of 14% and 18%, respectively. No significant correlations were found between DCE-derived parameters and clinical measures. CONCLUSION: The derived DCE protocol enables repeatable assessment of semiquantitative parameters of the aortic wall in AAA patients. No correlation was found between DCE-derived parameters and clinical markers of aneurysm progression.