Detection of coronary artery disease by magnetic resonance myocardial perfusion imaging with various contrast medium doses: first european multi-centre experience

Aims Magnetic resonance (MR) first-pass myocardial perfusion imaging during hyperaemia detects coronary artery stenoses in humans with test sensitivity depending on contrast medium (CM)-induced signal change in myocardium. In this prospective multi-centre study, the effect of CM dose on myocardial signal change and on diagnostic performance was evaluated using a stress-only approach. Methods and results Ninety-four patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) were randomised to 0.05,0.10, or 0.15 mmol/kg body weight of an extravascular CM (Gd-DTPA) and X-ray coronary angiography was performed within 30 days prior/after the MR examination. A multi-slice MR technique with identical hardware and software in all centres was used during hyperaemia (adenosine 0.14 mg/kg/min) to monitor myocardial CM wash-in kinetics and data were analysed semi-automatically in a core laboratory. Protocol violations resulted in 80 complete studies with CAD (defined as ⩾1 vessel with diameter stenosis ⩾50% on quantitative coronary angiography) present in 19/29, 13/24, and 20/27 patients for doses 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In normal myocardium, the upslope increased with CM dose (overall-p<0.0001, ANOVA). For CAD detection the area under the receiver operator characteristics curve for subendocardial data (3 slices with quality score<4 representing 86% of cases) was 0.91±0.07 and 0.86±0.08 for doses 2 and 3, respectively, and was lower for dose 1 (0.53±0.13, p<0.01 and p<0.02 vs. doses 2 and 3, respectively). Corresponding sensitivities/specificities (95% confidence intervals) for pooled doses 2/3 were 93% (77-99%; ns vs. dose 1) and 75% (48-92%;p<0.05 vs. dose 1), respectively. Conclusions With increasing doses of CM, a higher signal response in the myocardium was achieved and consequently this stress-only protocol, with CM doses of 0.10-0.15 mmol/kg combined with a semi-automatic analysis, yielded a high diagnostic performance for the detection of CA

MR imaging-guided percutaneous sclerotherapy of peripheral venous malformations with a clinical 1.5-T unit: a pilot study

PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-guided percutaneous sclerotherapy of venous malformations (VMs) by using a clinical 1.5-T MR unit and the safety and therapeutic outcome of the performed procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective pilot study with ethical approval and written informed patient consent. Ten MR imaging-guided percutaneous sclerotherapy treatments were performed in 10 patients (one male and nine female patients; age range, 16-47 years; mean age, 30.3 years) with a VM in the foot and/or ankle (n = 5), calf (n = 2), thigh and/or knee (n = 2), and elbow (n = 1). MR imaging was used for needle insertion guidance and real-time monitoring of the injection process by using three-dimensional fast spoiled gradient-echo MR sequences (repetition time msec/echo time msec = 3.7-5.2/1.1-1.6, flip angle = 35 degrees) and meglumine gadoterate/ethanol solutions as the sclerosing agent. The technical success (ie, absence of technical problems, number of needle position corrections) was systematically evaluated along with safety aspects (ie, absence of complications) and the therapeutic outcome (eg, VM volume decrease, relief of symptoms) during a 1-year follow-up period. RESULTS: MR imaging-guided sclerotherapy was technically successful in all patients. A mean of 2.5 +/- 1.85 (range, 1-6) needle position corrections were needed for correct needle placement. The distribution of the sclerosing agent (mean amount, 10.5 mL; range, 0.8-33.0 mL) was clearly visible with real-time MR monitoring. One patient developed a compartment syndrome, which was managed with surgery. No other complications were observed. VM volumes significantly decreased by 53% (range, 24%-86%; P = .02) 12 weeks after therapy. Nine of the 10 patients (90%) noted an improvement of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: In this limited preliminary series, 1.5-T MR imaging-guided percutaneous sclerotherapy for the treatment of VMs was feasible with a high degree of technical success, was relatively safe, and had a good therapeutic outcome after 1 year

Study of phospholipid structure by 1H, 13C, and 31P dipolar couplings from two-dimensional NMR.

Various motionally averaged 31P-1H, 13C-1H, 1H-1H, and 31P-13C dipolar couplings were measured for natural-abundance and unoriented phosphocholine in the L alpha phase. The couplings were obtained and assigned by a variety of advanced and partly novel two-dimensional solid-state NMR experiments. Whereas 31P-1H and 31P-13C dipolar couplings provide long-range structural constraints, geminal 1H-1H couplings and the signs of 13C-1H couplings are important new elements in a segmental order-tensor analysis of the lipid headgroup and glycerol backbone. The implications of these measured dipolar couplings for the conformational exchange of the lipid headgroup and the bending of the headgroup from the glycerol backbone are discussed. These dipolar couplings are also analyzed semiquantitatively in terms of the segmental order tensor

NMR MEASUREMENT OF RESOLVED HETERONUCLEAR DIPOLE COUPLINGS IN LIQUID-CRYSTALS AND LIPIDS

Simplified nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of heteronuclear dipolar couplings for molecules in an anisotropic environment, such as liquid crystals and lipids, are obtained by proton-detected local-field spectroscopy. The distance-dependent dipolar interactions between spins of magnetically active nuclei can be determined directly from the spectrum because many-body effects that complicate conventional dipolar NMR spectra are avoided by selectively probing local fields produced by rare spins at the location of abundant spins. We employ the technique to resolve the carbon-proton dipolar couplings of benzene dissolved in a nematic liquid crystal and to measure phosphorus-proton couplings in lecithin in the L(alpha) phase to obtain constraints on the phosphocholine headgroup structure

Assessment of aortoiliac and renal arteries: MR angiography with parallel acquisition versus conventional MR angiography and digital subtraction angiography

PURPOSE: To prospectively compare the image quality, sensitivity, and specificity of three-dimensional gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography accelerated by parallel acquisition (ie, fast MR angiography) with MR angiography not accelerated by parallel acquisition (ie, conventional MR angiography) for assessment of aortoiliac and renal arteries, with digital subtraction angiography (DSA) as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was approved by the institutional review board; informed consent was obtained from all patients. Forty consecutive patients (33 men, seven women; mean age, 63 years) suspected of having aortoiliac and renal arterial stenoses and thus examined with DSA underwent both fast (mean imaging time, 17 seconds) and conventional (mean imaging time, 29 seconds) MR angiography. The arterial tree was divided into segments for image analysis. Two readers independently evaluated all MR angiograms for image quality, presence of arterial stenosis, and renal arterial variants. Image quality, sensitivity, and specificity were analyzed on per-patient and per-segment bases for multiple comparisons (with Bonferroni correction) and for dependencies between segments (with patient as the primary sample unit). Interobserver agreement was evaluated by using kappa statistics. RESULTS: Overall, the image quality with fast MR angiography was significantly better (P=.001) than that with conventional MR angiography. At per-segment analysis, the image quality of fast MR angiograms of the distal renal artery tended to be better than that of conventional MR angiograms of these vessels. Differences in sensitivity for the detection of arterial stenosis between the two MR angiography techniques were not significant for either reader. Interobserver agreement in the detection of variant renal artery anatomy was excellent with both conventional and fast MR angiography (kappa=1.00). CONCLUSION: Fast MR angiography and conventional MR angiography do not differ significantly in terms of arterial stenosis grading or renal arterial variant detection