[Diagnostic possibilities of magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in popliteal artery entrapment syndrome (PAES)].

MRT offers some advantages for morphological examinations of the fossa poplitea and appears to be superior in terms of multiplanar imaging over CT and duplex sonography for identifying a PAES. The method is always indicated when the diagnosis of PAES is suspected from the primary duplex sonography but the verification of the anatomic alteration is not conclusive. An MR angiography can, in principle, be carried out in the same session. On consideration of the currently presented cases, both inflow and phase-contrast MRA appear to be suited for examination. However, a sufficient detail resolution is only achieved by use of a surface coil which then makes assessment of the contralateral side and the lower leg arteries impossible. Specially fitted coils which allow a double-sided representation of sufficient image quality may, however, make conventional angiography unnecessary in future.