[Mapping of cerebral metabolism on cerebral disorders using multi-slice proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic...

Multi-slice proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging(MRSI) was performed using a 1.5 T clinical MR apparatus. Normal volunteer and several kinds of cerebral disorders were examined using following parameters; Tr/Te = 2.3 s/280 ms, slice thickness/gap/slices = 15/3.5 mm/4, 32 phase encoding and 24 cm FOV. Every 4 slice images of NAA, Cr, Cho and Lip/Lac were obtained in about 34 minutes. In control cases, images of Cr and Cho showed very high intensity at cerebellum comparing with cerebrum. This means high concentration or changes of relaxation times of both Cr and Cho. In cerebral infarction and brain tumor, though NAA images showed no signal intensity, Cr and Cho images showed small iso-or mild high-signal intensity areas. These findings suggest neuronal loss and gliosis or tumor growth in the lesions. In conclusion, MRSI has extremely high potential to evaluate metabolism of brain and cerebral disorders.