Pulmonary perfusion MRI using interleaved variable density sampling and HighlY constrained cartesian reconstruction (HYCR)

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 751 - 756
• Main Authors: Wang, Kang, Schiebler, Mark L., Francois, Christopher J., Del Rio, A. Munoz, Cornejo, Ma. Daniela, Bell, Laura C., Korosec, Frank R., Brittain, Jean H., Holmes, James H., Nagle, Scott K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2013; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Algorithms; Blood Flow Velocity - physiology; Breath Holding; constrained reconstruction; DCE MRI; Feasibility Studies; Female; Humans; HYCR; HYPR; Image Enhancement - methods; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; IVD; Magnetic Resonance Angiography - methods; Magnetic resonance imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Pulmonary Circulation - physiology; pulmonary perfusion; Reproducibility of Results; Sarcoidosis - pathology; Sarcoidosis - physiopathology; Sensitivity and Specificity; Young Adult; HYPR; DCE MRI; HYCR; pulmonary perfusion; constrained reconstruction; IVD
• ISSN: 1053-1807; 1522-2586; 1522-2586
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.24018

Purpose: To demonstrate the feasibility of performing single breathhold, noncardiac gated, ultrafast, high spatial‐temporal resolution whole chest MR pulmonary perfusion imaging in humans. Materials and Methods: Eight subjects (five male, three female) were scanned with the proposed method on a 3 Tesla clinical scanner using a 32‐channel phased‐array coil. Seven (88%) were healthy volunteers, and one was a patient volunteer with sarcoidosis. The peak lung enhancement phase for each subject was scored for gravitational effect, peak parenchymal enhancement and severity of artifacts by three cardiothoracic radiologists independently. Results: All studies were successfully performed by MR technologists without any additional training. Mean parenchymal signal was very good, measuring 0.78 ± 0.13 (continuous scale, 0 = “none” → 1 = “excellent”). Mean level of motion artifacts was low, measuring 0.13 ± 0.08 (continuous scale, 0 = “none” → 1 = “severe”). Conclusion: It is feasible to perform single breathhold, noncardiac gated, ultrafast, high spatial‐temporal resolution whole chest MR pulmonary perfusion imaging in humans. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2013;38:751–756. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.