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3D pulmonary perfusion MRI and MR angiography of pulmonary embolism in pigs after a single injection of a blood pool MR contrast agent

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of contrast-enhanced 3D perfusion MRI and MR angiography (MRA) of pulmonary embolism (PE) in pigs using a single injection of the blood pool contrast Gadomer. PE was induced in five domestic pigs by injection of autologous blood thrombi. Contrast-enhanced first-pass 3D perfusion MRI (TE/TR/FA: 1.0 ms/2.2 ms/40°; voxel size: 1.3×2.5×4.0 mm3; TA: 1.8 s per data set) and high-resolution 3D MRA (TE/TR/FA: 1.4 ms/3.4 ms/40°; voxel size: 0.8×1.0×1.6 mm3) was performed during and after a single injection of 0.1 mmol/kg body weight of Gadomer. Image data were compared to pre-embolism Gd-DTPA-enhanced MRI and post-embolism thin-section multislice CT (n=2). SNR measurements were performed in the pulmonary arteries and lung. One animal died after induction of PE. In all other animals, perfusion MRI and MRA could be acquired after a single injection of Gadomer. At perfusion MRI, PE could be detected by typical wedge-shaped perfusion defects. While the visualization of central PE at MRA correlated well with the CT, peripheral PE were only visualized by CT. Gadomer achieved a higher peak SNR of the lungs compared to Gd-DTPA (21±8 vs. 13±3). Contrast-enhanced 3D perfusion MRI and MRA of PE can be combined using a single injection of the blood pool contrast agent Gadomer.

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Acknowledgements

The support of Wolfgang Ebert and Bernd Misselwitz of Schering AG, Germany, for providing Gadomer is acknowledged. The authors also would like to thank Roland Galmbacher, Barbara Dillenberger, Steffen Volz and Sven Zuehsdorff for their assistance with the animal experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Innovative Cancer Diagnostic and Therapy, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Christian Fink, Sebastian Ley, Michael Puderbach, Christian Plathow & Hans-Ulrich Kauczor

  2. Department of Medical Physics in Radiology, Innovative Cancer Diagnostic and Therapy, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Michael Bock

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  1. Christian Fink
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  2. Sebastian Ley
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  3. Michael Puderbach
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  4. Christian Plathow
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  5. Michael Bock
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  6. Hans-Ulrich Kauczor
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Correspondence to Christian Fink.

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Fink, C., Ley, S., Puderbach, M. et al. 3D pulmonary perfusion MRI and MR angiography of pulmonary embolism in pigs after a single injection of a blood pool MR contrast agent. Eur Radiol 14, 1291–1296 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-004-2282-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-004-2282-8

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