Quantitative assessment of pulmonary perfusion with dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Imaging
• Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Medicine
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Background:

• Qualitative assessment of pulmonary perfusion using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) with ultra-short echo time (TE) has been previously shown to be feasible.
• Accurate quantitative evaluation of pulmonary perfusion is crucial for diagnosing and managing various cardiopulmonary diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively analyze pulmonary perfusion using DCE-MRI with ultra-short TE.
• To validate the quantitative MR imaging parameters against a gold standard method in a relevant animal model.

Main Methods:

• A pig model of pulmonary embolism was utilized to create a controlled condition for studying pulmonary perfusion.
• Quantitative analysis was performed based on the indicator dilution principle using DCE-MRI with ultra-short TE.
• MR imaging results, specifically the inverse of apparent mean transit time (1/tau(app)), distribution volume (V), and V/tau(app), were compared with absolute pulmonary perfusion values obtained using colored microspheres.

Main Results:

• The quantitative MR imaging parameters (1/tau(app), V, and V/tau(app)) demonstrated strong correlations with the absolute pulmonary perfusion measured by colored microspheres.
• These findings indicate that the derived MR parameters accurately reflect the actual blood flow in the lungs.

Conclusions:

• Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI with ultra-short TE shows significant potential for the quantitative evaluation of pulmonary perfusion.
• This non-invasive MR technique offers a promising tool for clinical assessment of lung perfusion abnormalities.