Rationale and objectives: To assess the ability of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) to evaluate complex vascular bypass reconstructions of the abdominal aorta and its major branches in the postoperative period.
Materials and methods: Thirteen patients with bypass grafts connecting the aorta to visceral, renal, and lower limb inflow vessels were evaluated with MRA. Three of these patients were also studied with digital subtraction angiography soon after MRA was completed. MRA was evaluated for its ability to detect the grafts and to determine the degree of stenosis in the graft conduit or at the anastomoses to native vessels.
Results: Detection of graft conduits and anastomotic sites by MRA was 100% and 99%, respectively. Comparison with digital subtraction angiography in a subset of the patients showed a 100% agreement between the two modalities in their description of stenotic disease in graft conduits and 95% agreement in stenosis characterization at graft anastomotic sites.
Conclusion: MRA of complex aortic reconstructions with bypass grafts to its major abdominal branches arteries accurately describes the resulting complicated vascular anatomy and likely has a high degree of correlation to digital subtraction angiography in describing the disease within the bypass grafts.