Clinical MRI of Peripheral Arterial Disease

描述（由申请人提供）：需要更好的非侵入性成像方法来检测和评估外周动脉疾病的性质，以便进行治疗计划和监测。随着血管生成药物和干细胞移植作为严重下肢缺血患者潜在的新治疗选择的出现，这种无创评估方法的重要性正在增加。本研究计划的目的是开发和评估新的磁共振（MR）成像方法，旨在改善外周动脉疾病患者的检测和表征。这些新的磁共振成像工具包括评估1)下肢血管解剖，2)全身和局部灌注，以及3)皮肤解剖和生理的工具。一般的假设是，一套新的无创和客观的工具来表征血管解剖、深部组织和浅表皮肤灌注以及皮肤形态学，将为严重外周动脉疾病患者的治疗和结果提供更少的病态和更准确的预测。研究设计将包括技术研究和临床研究，以评估这些方法的有效性。技术研究将针对开发和优化各种MR序列，并在受控情况下对其进行验证。临床研究将在肢体严重缺血和皮肤病理患者中进行。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is a need for better noninvasive imaging methods to detect and assess the nature of peripheral arterial disease for therapeutic planning and monitoring. With the emergence of angiogenetic agents and stem-cell transplantation as potentially new therapeutic options for patients with severe lower extremity ischemia, the importance of such noninvasive assessment methods is growing. The aim of this research program is to develop and evaluate new magnetic resonance (MR) imaging methods aimed at enabling improved detection and characterization of patients with peripheral arterial disease. These new MR imaging tools include those to assess 1) lower extremity vessel anatomy, 2) global and regional perfusion, and 3) skin anatomy and physiology. The general hypothesis is that a new noninvasive and objective set of tools to characterize vascular anatomy, deep tissue and superficial skin perfusion, and skin morphology will provide a less morbid and more accurate predictor of therapy and outcome in patients with severe peripheral arterial disease. The research design will consist of technical studies leading to clinical studies evaluating the efficacy of these methods. The technical studies will be directed at developing and optimizing the various MR sequences and validating them under controlled situations. The clinical studies will be performed on patients with critical limb ischemia and skin pathology.