Magnitude subtraction and complex subtraction in dynamic contrast-enhanced three-dimensional magnetic resonance (3D-MR) angiography were compared using a phantom and 23 human subjects. In phantom studies, complex subtraction showed far better performance than magnitude subtraction, especially for longer echo times, with thicker slices, and without fat suppression. With complex subtraction, non-fat-suppressed studies showed contrast-to-noise ratios comparable to those in fat-suppressed studies. In human subjects, complex subtraction was superior to magnitude subtraction in 9 subjects, but comparable to magnitude subtraction in 14 subjects. There were no cases in which magnitude subtraction was superior to complex subtraction. Although the differences observed in human studies when complex subtraction was applied with thinner slices, shorter echo times, and the fat-suppression technique were not as pronounced as those seen in phantom studies, complex subtraction should be performed in dynamic contrast-enhanced 3D-MR angiography because there are no drawbacks in complex subtraction. Further research is necessary to assess the feasibility of dynamic contrast-enhanced 3D-MR angiography without fat suppression in human subjects using complex subtraction, as suggested by the results of phantom studies. If it is found to be feasible, dynamic contrast-enhanced 3D-MR angiography without fat suppression using complex subtraction may prove to be a robust technique that eliminates the need for shimming and can reduce the acquisition time. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 1999;10:813-820.
Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.