Liver tumors: monitoring embolization in rabbits with VX2 tumors--transcatheter intraarterial first-pass perfusion MR imaging.
OBJECTIVE
To prospectively test the hypothesis that transcatheter intraarterial first-pass perfusion (TRIP) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging can depict serial reductions in rabbit liver tumor perfusion during transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE).


METHODS
All experiments had institutional animal care and use committee approval. In four rabbits implanted with eight VX2 liver tumors, catheters were positioned in the hepatic arteries with conventional angiographic guidance. After transfer to the MR imaging suite, serial TAE was performed, with approximately 0.5 million 40-120-microm embolic particles injected at each embolic stage. TRIP MR imaging was performed at baseline and after each subsequent embolic stage (10 minutes between stages). Serial TAE and TRIP MR imaging were repeated until stasis. The first-pass time course of signal enhancement was measured in both tumors and hepatic arteries. Tumor area under the curve (AUC) and maximum upslope (MUS) values, each normalized by arterial input, were measured to assess iterative perfusion reduction. Perfusion measurements across TAE stages were compared with paired t tests and linear regression.


RESULTS
AUC decreased from a pre-TAE baseline of 0.408 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.330, 0.486) to 0.065 (95% CI: 0.046, 0.085) (P<.001) after TAE. MUS decreased from a pre-TAE baseline of 0.151 (95% CI: 0.121, 0.181) to 0.027 (95% CI: 0.022, 0.031) (P<.001) after TAE. Reductions to AUC and MUS after each embolic stage were statistically significant (P<.006 for each group of paired comparisons). AUC strongly correlated with MUS (r=0.966, P<.001).


CONCLUSIONS
TRIP MR imaging can depict serial reductions in liver tumor perfusion during TAE. TRIP MR imaging offers the potential to target functional embolic end points during TAE.
Wang
Dingxin
D
Department of Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University, 448 E Ontario St, Suite 700, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Bangash
Affaan K
AK
Rhee
Thomas K
TK
Woloschak
Gayle E
GE
Paunesku
Tatjana
T
Salem
Riad
R
Omary
Reed A
RA
Larson
Andrew C
AC
D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction; D000818:Animals; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic; D008114:Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000628:therapy*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D011817:Rabbits