Quantification of Mesenteric Blood Flow by Magnetic Resonance Flow Imaging in Patients with Arterial Dissection

Mesenteric ischemia is an infrequent, but potentially dangerous, complication of aortic or mesenteric artery dissection. Severe mesenteric ischemia presenting as a malperfusion syndrome, caused by aortic dissection or isolated mesenteric dissection, should be treated immediately by central aortic repair or angioplasty. However, treatment of non-critical, symptomatic mesenteric ischemia without narrowing true lumen of the aorta or localized mesenteric artery dissection was difficult. We treated two distinctly different cases of non-critical, symptomatic mesenteric ischemia superior mesenteric artery ischemia needing intensive care and mesenteric blood flow was determined by quantification with cine-phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging.