Comparison of Non-Contrast Magnetic Resonance Angiography Using Inflow Inversion Recovery (Inhance) Technique and Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Angiography in the Assessment of Renal Arteries in Patients with Hypertension

Renal artery stenosis can cause renovascular hypertension manifesting clinically as high blood pressure.
In this study, we determined the efficiency of non-contrast magnetic resonance angiography (NC-MRA) using the inflow inversion recovery (inhance) method in the evaluation of renal arteries of hypertensive patients.
Patients and Three-dimensional (3D) contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) and NC-MRA were used to prospectively evaluate 66 patients diagnosed with hypertension. 3D CE-MRA and digital substractional angiography served as the gold standards. Image quality, number of main/accessory renal arteries, and main renal artery diameters were assessed. Statistical analyses were based on paired-t tests and intra-class correlation coefficients.
Of the 126 main renal and 12 accessory renal arteries reviewed in this study, NC-MRA overall image quality was good or excellent in more than 89.5%. An image quality of 94% was recorded for both left and right sides with CE-MRA. The differences between the 3D CE-MRA and NC-MRA readings for the renal artery ostium and proximal, medial, and distal segment diameters were not significant (P > 0.05). Inter-reader agreement regarding all segments was excellent. 3D CE-MRA was superior to NC-MRA in assessing accessory renal arteries (detection ratio using NC-MRA: 7/12, 58%).
NC-MRA using the inhance method to image the anatomy of the renal artery provides an alternative to CE-MRA in patients with hypertension.