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Sho-Jen Cheng¹, Xue-Zhe Lu², and Yi-Hsin Wang^1
1Department of Medical Imaging, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Siemens Healthcare Limited, Taipei, Taiwan

Keywords: Vessel Wall, Vessels

Angiography is a gold standard tool in the follow-up of the treated aneurysms to identify if there is aneurysm recanalization need further management. Despite non-invasive MR-based assessments be reported, the pathological changes of aneurysm on MRI was not clear. In this study, we employed three-dimensional variate flip angle MRI to evaluate the endothelial healing in ten cases with intracranial aneurysms after endovascular management. HRVWI routinely demonstrate the enhancement pattern of the aneurysmal neck not only the aneurysmal wall in both cross-sectional and time-serial follow up, increasing our confidence in making the decision whether to retreat or not.

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Meng Yu Sun¹, Wei Yu¹, and Xiu Jian Lian^2
1Radiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, BeiJing, China, ²Philips Healthcare, BeiJing, China

Keywords: Vessel Wall, Atherosclerosis

To quantitatively evaluate carotid plaque burden and components and to explore the association between carotid plaque burden and compositions and carotid stent expansion rate (SER) by using carotid high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging (HR-VWI). Maximum wall thickness (OR 1.75; 95% CI, 1.02-3.00, P=0.04), maximum single-slice calcification circumference score (OR 2.79, 95% CI 1.06 - 7.37, P=0.03), and maximum area percentage of calcification (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.04 - 1.39, P=0.01) as predictors of the low SER. Larger culprit plaque, larger calcification area, and greater calcification circumference were independently associated with a low SER after carotid artery stenting.

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Bo Li^1,2
1Center Laboratory, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China, ²Radiology Department, The First Hospital of Nanchang City, Nanchang, China

Keywords: Vessel Wall, Segmentation

We investigated automatic segmentations for the carotid vessel lumen and wall with the presence of arterial calcifications using spatially registered black- and gray-blood images. CS-siBLAG sequence was used to provide black- and gray-blood images. A K-means algorithm was employed to segment carotid artery lumen on black-blood images and calcifications on gray-blood images. A distance transform and an active contours model was used to segment the vessel wall. This method improves lumen segmentation, since it avoids the over-segmentation of vessel lumen by means of subtracting calcifications obtained on gray-blood images from the vessel lumen segmentation obtained on black-blood images. 

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Long Yang^1,2, Xiong Yang³, Zhenhuan Gong³, Yufei Mao³, Guanxun Cheng⁴, Ke Wu³, Cheng Li³, Ye Li¹, Dong Liang¹, Xin Liu¹, Hairong Zheng¹, Zhanli Hu¹, and Na Zhang^1
1Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China, ²School of Computer Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia, ³Department of Image Advanced Analysis of HSW BU, Shanghai United Imaging Healthcare Co., Shanghai, China, ⁴Department of Radiology, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, China

Keywords: Vessel Wall, Atherosclerosis, atherosclerotic plaque, morphological quantitative assessment

Manual segmentation of atherosclerotic plaque for quantitative assessment is a time-consuming process. In this study, a convolutional neural network based automatic segmentation method named Vessel-Segnet was proposed for quantitative evaluation of lumen, vessel wall and plaque based on MR vessel wall images. The proposed method achieved the best segmentation performance with the highest dice similarity coefficient and the lowest average surface distance among six models. In terms of morphological quantitative evaluation, the proposed method achieved excellent agreement with manual method. Overall, the proposed method can quickly and accurately realize the segmentation of lumen, vessel wall and plaque for quantitative evaluation.

Lizhu yuerong^1
1radiology, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

Keywords: Vessel Wall, Brain

This study hypothesized that the load and the progression of cSVD in the unilateral hemisphere is correlated with the features of ipsilateral intracranial large arterial vessel wall lesions. Using the fluctuations of WHMs at baseline and follow-up to reflect the severity of cSVD. VW-HRMRI, the most sensitive non-invasive ways to evaluate the lesions of intracranial vascular, was used to assessment the morphological and enhancement characteristic of the culprit plaque. The result suggested that mild stenosis and positive remodeling of MCA may associated with WHM progression.

Fei Zhou¹, Maoxue Wang¹, Ruijing Xin¹, Tianshu Yang², Yongming Dai³, Na Zhang⁴, Zhanli Hu⁴, Xin Zhang¹, and Bing Zhang^1
1Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China, ²Shenzhen United Imaging Research Institute of Innovative Medical Equipment, Shenzhen, China, ³MR Collaboration, Central Research Institute, United Imaging Healthcare, Shanghai, China, ⁴Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China

Keywords: Vessel Wall, Vessels

Symptomatic cerebral vascular stenosis diseases include acute ischemic infarction and transient ischemic syndrome. Patients with these diseases often have a high risk of recurrence in the short term, which may have serious adverse consequences. High-resolution MR vessel wall imaging (HR-VWI) technique has provided new possibilities to assess the threat of stroke recurrence due to stenosis caused by intracranial plaque. The present study confirms that plaque morphological parameters obtained by HR-VWI can provide an effective prediction of stroke recurrence risk in patients with intracranial arterial stenosis.

Adnan A. Hirad¹, Faisal fakhouri², Brian Raterman³, Dakota Gonring¹, Arunark Kolipaka³, and Doran Mix^1
1University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, United States, ²King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ³The University of Ohio, Columbus, OH, United States

Keywords: Vessel Wall, Blood vessels

Type-B aortic dissection represents a serious medical emergency with up to a 50% associated 5-year mortality caused by thoracic aorta, dissection-associated aneurysmal (DAA) degeneration, and rupture. Unfortunately, conventional diagnostic methods cannot distinguish high-risk DAAs that benefit from surgical intervention from stable DAAs. Our goal is to use DAA stiffness measured with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) as a biomarker to distinguish high-risk DAAs from stable DAAs. This is a feasibility study using MRE to 1) measure stiffness in hydrogel phantoms with human-like dissection geometries and 2) demonstrate the first successful application of MRE to the thoracic aorta of a human volunteer.

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Huiming Dong¹, Joseph Leach¹, Ang Zhou¹, Megan Ballweber¹, Frederick H. Epstein², Laing Ge³, Elaine Tseng³, David Saloner¹, and Dimitrios Mitsouras^1
1Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States, ³Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

Keywords: Vessel Wall, Preclinical, Aortic Strain; DENSE MRI

In vivo assessment of the mechanical properties of the aorta stands to offer valuable information to evaluate and predict the progression of cardiovascular diseases. Displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) is a non-invasive phase-contrast MRI technique that has been adapted to measure ascending aortic wall stretch. Previous studies utilizing long respiratory-gated acquisitions are prone to artifacts from residual cardiac or respiratory motion. In this study, we investigated the reproducibility of a novel breath-held aortic DENSE imaging protocol. The proposed breath-held protocol was highly reproducible (COV=3.27% and LCCC=0.97). Finally, the measured aortic stretch followed the expected relationship with age.

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Xiaochun Wang¹ and Wenqiao Zheng^1
1First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Stroke

To evaluate the prognosis of ischemic stroke (IS) by plaque characteristics based on high-resolution MR vessel wall imaging combined with Mediterranean diet adherence screener (MEDAS). IS patients were divided into two groups according to their prognosis. Clinical data and plaque characteristics were obtained and compared between groups. The correlation between these characteristics and prognosis was investigated by multivariate analysis. The ROC curves were further performed to determine their predictive performance. NIHSS score, MEDAS score, and plaque enhancement ratio were independent predictors of IS prognosis. Noteworthy, the combined model of three parameters showed significant superiority in the prognosis evaluation of IS.

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Seigo Yoshida¹, Katsumi Nakamura¹, Akiyoshi Yamamoto¹, Hidetoshi Akashi², and Tetsuo Imamura^3
1Radiology, Tobata Kyoritsu Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan, ²Vascular Surgery, Tobata Kyoritsu Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan, ³Surgery, Tobata Kyoritsu Hospital, Fukuoka, Japan

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Cardiovascular

Feasibility of a combined evaluation of coronary artery calcification by plain CT and severity of PAD assessed by nonenhanced MRA was evaluated for predicting the risk of future cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events. The result showed patients who had coronary calcium score of 1000 or higher and more advanced PAD were associated with 67% more subsequent cerebrovascular and cardiovascular events. The possibility of assessing these events in a noninvasive manner has been demonstrated, and early intervention may lead to improved patient outcomes.

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Shuwan Yu¹, Ran Huo², Huiyu Qiao¹, Zihan Ning¹, Rui Shen¹, Ning Xu¹, and Xihai Zhao^1
1Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, ²Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Inflammation, Carotid artery PVAT, Vulnerable plaques

Inflammation of carotid artery perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is associated with atherosclerotic disease. This study investigated the association between carotid artery PVAT and atherosclerotic plaques using multi-contrast MR vessel wall imaging. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of PVAT was measured on TOF MRA images. We found that the CNR of carotid artery PVAT measured by TOF MRA is independently associated with carotid vulnerable plaque features, suggesting that the CNR of PVAT might be a potential indicator for vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques.

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Sandra Quinn¹, Chantelle Sanchez¹, Ozden Kilinc¹, Kai Lin¹, Kambiz Ghafourian², Daniel C Lee², Esther E Vorovich², Clyde W Yancy², Vera H Rigolin², Jon W Lomasney³, Bradley D Allen¹, James C Carr¹, and Michael Markl^1
1Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ³Department of Pathology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States

Keywords: Myocardium, Transplantation, cardiac allograft vasculopathy

CAV is a leading cause of mortality in HTx patients. Diagnosis and grading of CAV is dependent on repeated ICA which carries risk of major complications. CMR has the potential to be useful in CAV surveillance without the risk of ICA. This study has demonstrated that in a group of long-term heart transplant patients with evidence of CAV progression who undergo serial CMR and ICA within a close timeframe, 2D global peak strain parameters and 2D systolic strain rate correlates with CAV severity grade. FTS may therefore prove useful for surveillance of patients for CAV.

Man Ye^1
1Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Molecular Imaging

The instability of atherosclerotic plaque is seriously harmful to human health. The nanoparticle molecular probe we prepared can simultaneously achieve magnetic resonance and ultrasound imaging, which is expected to reflect the pathophysiological characteristics of plaque at the molecular level. The phase change induced by low intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) can cause the apoptosis of macrophages in plaque，which has the potential for phase change ablation of plaque.¹ It provides a simple, effective, safe and non-invasive new method for early diagnosis, treatment and efficacy monitoring of vulnerable plaque.

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Mayuka Seguchi¹, Yuki Kanazawa¹, Tosiaki Miyati², Masafumi Harada¹, Mitsuharu Miyoshi³, Yuki Matsumoto¹, Hiroaki Hayashi², Yasuhisa Kanematsu¹, and Yasushi Takagi^1
1Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan, ²Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan, ³GE Healthcare Japan, Hino, Japan

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Diffusion/other diffusion imaging techniques

We developed a Dw-viscosity imaging method to identify atherosclerotic plaques. First, we conducted experiments to determine ADC and viscosity changes of four different concentrations of glycerin solution, and determined the viscosity model. Second, a clinical study was carried out, and Dw-viscosity imaging was performed. As a result, we found that there was a significant difference between with and without hemorrhage findings (P < 0.01). Dw-viscosity imaging enables us to obtain more detailed information about atherosclerotic plaques such as intraplaque hemorrhage.

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Huiming Dong¹, Joseph Leach¹, Ang Zhou¹, Teodora Chitiboi², Megan Ballweber¹, Warren Gasper³, David Saloner¹, and Dimitrios Mitsouras^1
1Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²Siemens Healthineers AG, Erlangen, Germany, ³Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

Keywords: Vessels, Vessels, Aortic Strain; MR Feature Tracking

Recent studies are increasingly highlighting aortic wall stress, strain, and other mechanical descriptors as relevant factors associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) progression. The goal of this prospective patient study was to employ MR feature tracking to measure the maximum circumferential strain in AAAs and study investigate its relationship with AAA growth. The feature tracking-measured AAA circumferential strain was lower than that of the normal aorta, indicating that the AAA wall is less compliant than the non-aneurysmal aorta. Furthermore, AAA strain was associated with the growth rate of the aneurysm, independent of AAA maximum diameter.

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Niranjan Balu¹, Kaiyu Zhang², Thomas S Hatsukami³, and Chun Yuan^1,4
1Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, ²Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, ³Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, ⁴University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States

Keywords: Vessels, Data Acquisition

Pulsatile motion of intracranial arteries may provide useful diagnostic information of intracranial vascular pathology. We develop an isotropic 3D black-blood whole brain MRI method for assessment of intracranial vascular pulsation. Comparison of the black-blood with 2D bright-blood PC-MRA and assessment of luminal boundary changes across the cardiac cycle suggest that pulsation of large intracranial arteries can be detected and measured by black-blood cine MRI.

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Zeping Liu¹, Zehe He², Guoxi Xie¹, Liping Liao², Mingxia Tan², Qizeng Ruan², Lanbin Huang², Qingchun Li², Yuhui Nie¹, Anyan Gu¹, Zhuoneng Zhang¹, and Yi Sun^3
1Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China, ²The First People’s Hospital of Qinzhou, Qinzhou, China, ³Siemens Healthineers, Shanghai, China

Keywords: Vessels, Thrombo-Embolic

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) can lead to life-threatening pulmonary embolism. Black-blood thrombus imaging (BTI) technique can accurately identify DVT and provide additional information for thrombus staging. However, non-uniform fat suppression of BTI with conventional fat saturation preparation is obvious due to the field inhomogeneities and large field of view (FOV) imaging, which can affect the accuracy of detecting and staging of thrombus. To address this issue, a field inhomogeneity insensitive BTI technique was developed by incorporating LIBRE pulses for fat free and large FOV thrombus imaging.

Zilong Ren¹, Didi Wen², Jianxiu Lian³, and Minwen Zheng^4
1Department of Radiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China, ²Department of Radiology, Xijing Hospital, Forth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China, ³Philips Healthcare China, Xi'an, China, ⁴Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China

Keywords: Heart, Animals

To investigate whether diffuse tensor imaging (DTI) can be used as a predictor for coronary microvascular dysfunction (CMD). Pig models with CMD had higher mean diffusivity (MD), lower FA, and lower E2A compared with normal pigs (mean MDnormal = 1.50 ± 0.02, mean MDCMD = 1.65 ± 0.02, P = 0.001; mean FAnormal = 0.35 ± 0.01, mean FACMD = 0.27 ± 0.01, P < 0.001; mean E2Anormal = 53.33 ± 0.88, mean E2ACMD = 46.57 ± 1, P = 0.004). Cardiac DTI technology could add benefits of offering microstructure change and cardiac remodeling parameters for CMD pig models.

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Dan Mu¹, Xiuzheng Yue², and Xiance Zhao^2
1Department of Radiology, Affiliated Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, nanjing, China, ²Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, China

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Cardiovascular

Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is a novel factor for risk stratification of coronary artery disease.  EAT in microvascular obstruction formation in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) remain unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between EAT and MVO volume detected by CMR on a clinical 1.5T CMR system with a 28-channel coil array in STEMI patients.  

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Haining Wei¹, Mingzhu Fu¹, Yudi Tang², Peng Liu³, and Rui Li^1
1Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, ²Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, ³Tiantan Hospital, Beijing, China

Keywords: Data Processing, Velocity & Flow, Intracranial Aneurysm

Increasing histopathological evidence suggested that the inflammation processes and hemodynamics in vessel wall may mediate the growth and rupture of IA. For hemodynamics, previous studies reported that lower wall shear stress (WSS) is the most highlighted parameter associated with inflammation. Some studies also explored the dynamic pressure distribution at the sites of aneurysms based on computational fluid dynamics. Vertical dynamic pressure(VDP) can be seen as a possible measure for the force of the fluid impinging on the vessel wall. In this study, we propose to investigate the correlation of two hemodynamic parameters(WSS, VDP) with inflammation by advanced MRI techniques.