Regional myocardial oxygen tension: 19F MRI of sequestered perfluorocarbon

A novel noninvasive method of measuring local myocardial oxygen tension (pO2) in the perfused rat heart using 19F MRI is demonstrated. Tissue pO2 was determined on the basis of the 19F spin-lattice relaxation rate (R1) of perflubron (perfluorooctyl bromide) sequestered in the heart after IV infusion of an emulsion. Spectroscopic measurement of R1 was previously used to measure a global weighted average of oxygen status. 19F MRI now provides 3D spatial resolution indicating local cardiac pO2 under normally perfused, globally ischemic, and regionally ischemic conditions.