Response of the hand’s small vessel to the cold immersion test, using a blood pool MRA contrast agent – the new perspective in evaluating vasospasm

Background: The recent advent of a “blood pool” agent offers important advantages in MRA. They produce a higher signal and have a longer half-life, so a specific regions of interest can be evaluated step by step at a higher spatial resolution. The aim of this work was to evaluate the vasospastic reaction of the small vessels of the hand, acquired during a cold immersion test, with the use of the new MRA blood pool contrast agent – gadofosveset (Vasovist).
Material/Methods: We examined a group of 20 female volunteers declaring high cold tolerance of their hands. After the contrast agent administration, we performed the first MRA acquisition; than subjects underwent a test in which they immersed their right hand in ice-cold water. Immediately after, we performed MRA of both hands, three times.
Results: All the pre- immersion MRA images clearly demonstrated the very small vessels of the hand, including at the level of the fingers, which allowed us to observe their reactivity in response to the thermal test. The obtained results revealed delayed reversal of vessel visibility of the right hands.
Conclusions: The changes in the visibility of hand’s vessels during immersion test, demonstrate the ability of MRA, with the use of the blood pool contrast agent, to monitor the peripheral circulation, including vasospasm.

Keywords: vasospasm, MRA, Vasovist