Related Experiment Videos
[Magnetic resonance imaging of the degree of pulmonary edema using a macromolecular contrast medium]
J C Böck1, U Pison, W Wlodarczyk
1Strahlenklinik und Poliklinik, Virchow-Klinikum, Medizinische Fakultät der Humboldt-Universität Berlin.
Purpose:
Development and experimental validation of a method tor the quantification of pulmonary oedema by measurement of total lung water and intravascular lung water and by calculation of extravascular lung water.
Material And Methods:
Isolated sheep lung preparations with unilateral pulmonary oedema were perfused (pulsatile pump) and examined under ventilatory arrest and during ventilation. Total lung water was calculated from proton density obtained from a multi-spin echo sequence and gravimetrically (reference method). Pulmonary intravascular volume was calculated from signal intensity histograms obtained from 3D-TOF MR-angiograms before and after application of the macromolecular contrast medium gadolinium-DTPA-polylysine. The reference method was a dye-dilution technique. Extravascular lung water was calculated as the difference between total lung water and pulmonary intravascular volume.
Results:
Under ventilatory arrest, the magnetic resonance technique for the measurement of extravascular lung water correlated well with the reference technique (r = 0.89, n = 42 lungs). In 10 lungs the correlation coefficients were r = 0.95 (ventilatory arrest) and r = 0.92 (ventilated lungs).
Conclusion:
The results demonstrate that magnetic resonance imaging enhanced by a macromolecular contrast medium may be applicable for quantification of pulmonary oedema.