Quantitative myocardial perfusion imaging with a MR cold pressor test.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular imaging
• Physiology
• Medical technology

Background:

• Endothelium-dependent factors modulate myocardial blood flow response to cold.
• Endothelial dysfunction is an early indicator in coronary artery disease.
• Quantitative assessment of myocardial perfusion is crucial for diagnosing cardiovascular conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a cold pressor test (CPT) protocol for quantitative myocardial perfusion analysis using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.
• To evaluate the feasibility of MR-CPT for assessing endothelial function.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 1.5 T MR scanner with a multislice steady-state free precession perfusion trueFISP sequence.
• Implemented a prebolus technique with gadobenate dimeglumine for first-pass perfusion studies.
• Quantified myocardial perfusion using deconvolution with the arterial input function after motion correction and segmentation.

Main Results:

• Mean myocardial perfusion increased from 0.61 ± 0.22 cc/g/min at rest to 1.15 ± 0.34 cc/g/min during CPT.
• The observed increase in perfusion under CPT is comparable to data from positron emission tomography studies.
• All collected data were successfully evaluated, demonstrating the robustness of the method.

Conclusions:

• The developed MR-CPT protocol is feasible for quantitative myocardial perfusion assessment.
• This technique can be utilized in the MR environment to detect endothelial dysfunction.
• MR-CPT offers a valuable tool for the early diagnosis of coronary artery disease.