title: [The helium-3 MRT of pulmonary ventilation: the initial clinical applications].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  of the study is the visualisation of normal pulmonary ventilation in healthy volunteers and the evaluation of abnormalities in patients with different lung diseases using 3He magnetic resonance imaging (3He-MRI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Hyperpolarized 3He gas (V = 300 ml, p = 3 x 10(5) Pa, polarised to 35-45% by optical pumping, provided in special glass cells) was inhaled by eight healthy volunteers and ten patients with different lung diseases. A 3D FLASH sequence (TR = 11.8 ms; TE = 5 ms; matrix 144 x 256, FOV 350 mm, section thickness 7-10 mm, coronal orientation) was performed in a single breath-hold (22-42 s). Clinical and radiological examinations were available for correlation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The studies were successfully carried out in 8/8 volunteers and in 8/10 patients. The central airways were constantly visualised with intermediate to high signal intensity. The lung parenchyma of volunteers with normal ventilatory function showed rather homogeneous intermediate to high signal, whereas patients with chronic obstructive lung disease and/or pneumonia presented severe signal inhomogeneities. Space-occupying lesions and pleural effusion caused large areas with little or no signal. The represented the lesion and adjacent ventilatory disturbances whose extent had not been presumed from chest x-ray or CT. The spatial resolution was higher than in ventilation scintigraphy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  3He MRI is a promising new modality for the assessment of pulmonary ventilation and its anomalies.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Radiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
authors.forename: H U
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Kauczor
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ebert
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Kreitner
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grossmann
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nilgens
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Surkau
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Heil
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Otten
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thelen
mesh_terms: D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006371:Helium / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007554:Isotopes; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D012016:Reference Values; D012907:Smoking / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D007554:Isotopes; D006371:Helium
vernacular_title: Helium-3-MRT der Lungenventilation: erste klinische Anwendungen.