Your Donations in Action: Research Focuses on Advanced Imaging Assessment of Aortic Dissection

2018 RSNA Research Scholar Grant recipient Nicholas S. Burris, MD, and colleagues are investigating the use of 4D flow MRI for hemodynamic assessment of patients with type B aortic dissection. Using vascular deformation mapping (VDM), a novel technique for 3D assessment of aortic growth, Dr. Burris seeks to more comprehensively understand the impact of abnormal hemodynamics on the formation of aortic aneurysm.

Dr. Burris began his focus on MRI assessment of aortic dissection as the recipient of a 2015 RSNA Research Fellow Grant, when he used PET/MRI to perform a comprehensive evaluation of inflammatory and hemodynamic abnormalities that drive aneurysm formation.

“Donors to the Research & Education (R&E) program have been critical to the success of my early academic career by supporting my research as a trainee and allowing me to refine my research agenda as a junior faculty as I aim for NIH funding,” Dr. Burris said.

R&E grants are designed to provide that time and space to further the goals of researchers, according to Umar Mahmood, MD, PhD, who is a member of the RSNA Board of Directors and the R&E Foundation Board of Trustees, and also a past R&E Research Resident Grant recipient.

“Such early imaging biomarkers may help guide which patients will most benefit from preventative endovascular repair and which patients can forgo invasive procedures,” Dr. Mahmood said. “Refined risk prediction tools can save patients from unnecessary procedures and focus resources on those who are most likely to benefit.”