title: The principal of dynamic contrast enhanced MRI, the method of pharmacokinetic analysis, and its application in the head and neck region.
abstract: Many researchers have established the utility of the dynamic contrast enhanced-magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in the differential diagnosis in the head and neck region, especially in the salivary gland tumors. The subjective assessment of the pattern of the time-intensity curve (TIC) or the simple quantification of the TIC, such as the time to peak enhancement (T(peak)) and the wash-out ratio (WR), is commonly used. Although the semiquantitative evaluations described above have been widely applied, they do not provide information on the underlying pharmacokinetic analysis in tissue. The quantification of DCE-MRI is preferable; therefore, many compartment model analyses have been proposed. The Toft and Kermode (TK) model is one of the most popular compartment models, which provide information about the influx forward volume transfer constant from plasma into the extravascular-extracellular space (EES) and the fractional volume of EES per unit volume of tissue is used in many clinical studies. This paper will introduce the method of pharmacokinetic analysis and also describe the clinical application of this technique in the head and neck region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chikui
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Obara
authors.forename: Arjan W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Simonetti
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohga
authors.forename: Shoichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: Shintaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawano
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuo
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamintani
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiraishi
authors.forename: Erina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kitamoto
authors.forename: Katsumasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshiura