Measurement of human myocardial perfusion by double-gated flow alternating inversion recovery EPI.
This paper presents a flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) method for measuring human myocardial perfusion at 1.5 T. Slice-selective/non-selective IR images were collected using a double-gated IR echoplanar imaging sequence. Myocardial perfusion was calculated after T1 fitting and extrapolation of the mean signal difference SI(Sel - SI(NSel). The accuracy of the method was tested in a porcine model using graded intravenous adenosine dose challenge. Comparison with radiolabeled microsphere measurements showed a good correlation (r = 0.84; mean error = 20%, n = 6) over the range of flows tested (0.9-7 ml/g/min). Applied in humans, this method allowed for the measurement of resting myocardial flow (1.04+/-0.37 ml/g/min, n = 11). The noise in our human measurements (SE(flow) = 0.2 ml/g/min) appears to come primarily from residual respiratory motion. Although the current signal-to-noise ratio limits our ability to measure small fluctuations in resting flow accurately, the results indicate that this noninvasive method has great promise for the quantitative assessment of myocardial flow reserve in humans.
Poncelet
B P
BP
Massachusetts General Hospital NMR Center, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA. brigitte@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
Koelling
T M
TM
Schmidt
C J
CJ
Kwong
K K
KK
Reese
T G
TG
Ledden
P
P
Kantor
H L
HL
Brady
T J
TJ
Weisskoff
R M
RM
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008863:Microspheres; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D010477:Perfusion / Q000379:methods; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013045:Species Specificity; D013113:Spin Labels; D013552:Swine
D013113:Spin Labels