T₁ρ Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting in Patients With Chronic Pancreatitis

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Biophysics

Background:

• Noninvasive detection of chronic pancreatitis (CP) is crucial for effective management and preventing complications like severe pain and pancreatic insufficiency.
• Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (MRF) offers advanced imaging techniques for tissue characterization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential of T1ρ MRF in differentiating between healthy volunteers and patients diagnosed with CP.
• To evaluate the diagnostic performance of T1, T2, and T1ρ relaxation times derived from MRF.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study involving 17 healthy volunteers and 20 CP patients.
• Utilized 3 Tesla (3T) MRF sequences acquired during both breath-hold (BH-MRF) and free-breathing (FB-MRF) conditions, alongside conventional T1/T2 mapping.
• Analyzed T1, T2, and T1ρ relaxation times, correlating them with CP severity using the Cambridge Classification (CC) score and employing mixed-effects models and ROC curve analysis.

Main Results:

• BH-MRF T1, T2, and T1ρ values were significantly elevated in CP patients compared to healthy controls, with high areas under the curve (AUCs) for T1 (0.994), T2 (0.873), and T1ρ (0.862).
• Both mild-moderate and severe CP subgroups showed significantly higher MRF parameters than controls.
• T1 relaxation time was significantly higher in severe CP patients compared to mild-moderate CP patients (AUC=0.945).
• FB MRF T1 showed excellent correlation with BH values (0.981), while T2 and T1ρ demonstrated moderate correlations (0.507 and 0.697, respectively).

Conclusions:

• T1, T2, and T1ρ relaxation times derived from MRF show significant potential as noninvasive biomarkers for assessing chronic pancreatitis.
• MRF-based relaxation parameters can effectively distinguish CP patients from healthy individuals and may help in grading disease severity.