Comparison of arterial spin labeling and first-pass dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging in the assessment of pulmonary perfusion in humans: The inflow spin-tracer saturation effect
Journal
Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
Journal Volume
52
Journal Issue
6
Pages
1291-1301
Date Issued
2004
Author(s)
Lin, Y.-R.
Wu, M.-T.
Huang, T.-Y.
Tsai, S.-Y.
Chung, H.-W.
Mai, V.M.
Chen, C.-Y.
Pan, H.-B.
Abstract
The flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) and the first-pass dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging (CE-MRI) techniques have both been shown to be effective in the assessment of human pulmonary perfusion. However, no comprehensive comparison of the measurements by these two methods has been reported. In this study, healthy adults were recruited, with FAIR and CE-MRI performed for an estimation of the relative pulmonary blood flow (rPBF). Regions of interest were encircled from the right and left lungs, with right-to-left rPBF ratios calculated. Results indicated that, on posterior coronal slices, the rPBF ratios obtained with the FAIR technique agreed well with CE-MRI measurements (mean difference = -0.02, intraclass correlation coefficient R1 = 0.78, 95% confidence interval = [0.67, 0.86]). On middle coronal slices, however, FAIR showed a substantially lower rPBF by up to 43% in the right lung compared with CE-MRI (mean difference = -0.38, R1 = 0.34, 95% confidence interval = [-0.09, 0.68]). The location-dependent discrepancy between measurements by FAIR and CE-MRI methods is attributed to tracer saturation effects of arterial inflow when the middle coronal slice contains the in-plane-oriented right pulmonary artery, whereas the left lung rPBF is less affected due to oblique orientation of the left pulmonary artery, Intrasequence comparison on additional subjects using FAIR at different slice orientations supported the above hypothesis. It is concluded that FAIR imaging for pulmonary perfusion in the coronal plane provides equivalent rPBF information with CE-MRI only in the absence of tracer saturation effects; hence, FAIR should be carefully exercised to avoid misleading interpretations. ? 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Subjects
Contrast-enhanced MRI; FAIR; Inflow tracer saturation; Pulmonary perfusion
SDGs
Other Subjects
Biological organs; Tracers; Arterial spin labeling; Comprehensive comparisons; Contrast-enhanced; Dynamic contrast enhanced; FAIR; Flow sensitive alternating inversion recoveries; Intraclass correlation coefficients; Pulmonary perfusion; Magnetic resonance imaging; tracer; adult; article; confidence interval; contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging; contrast enhancement; controlled study; correlation coefficient; diagnostic accuracy; first pass effect; flow sensitive alternating inversion recovery; human; human experiment; image analysis; inflow spin tracer saturation effect; intermethod comparison; lung blood flow; lung perfusion; male; normal human; nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; spin labeling; statistical analysis
Type
journal article