Indications for MRA spine:

Evaluation of known or suspected vascular malformations of the spine.  Spinal vascular malformations may be suspected in patients with:

• Spontaneous hemorrhage in the spinal canal
• Increased T2 signal in the spinal cord of unclear etiology

3D CE-MRA Sequence:

• 3D SAG acquisition. 
• Left-right coverage: 1 cm lateral to vertebral body on both sides. This is about 7.5 cm, centered on mid vertebral body.
• Foot-head coverage: Default to T4-L2 levels. This should shift superior or inferior depending on the known or suspected location of the malformation. For instance, if the most cord edema or largest hematoma is at the T1 level, shift the FOV to cover that level. If unsure, call radiologist for assistance. 
• Obtain 4 acquisitions, each lasting about 25s duration, including: Pre-contrast mask, arterial phase triggered when contrast reaches T4 level, then two subsequent acquisitions with no pauses between. 
• On Philips, use BolusTrack to trigger arterial phase acqusiton. On Siemens, use ROI placed on aorta at T4 to trigger. 
• Use centric k-space filling. 
• Create subtraction spinner 3D MIP using first arterial phase and mask acquisitions.