• Lisanne P W Canjels, JansenJacobus F AJFA0000-0002-5271-8060Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.MHENS, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.Dep, Marieke van den Kerkhof, Robert-Jan Alers, Benedikt A Poser, Christopher J Wiggins, Veronique M M M Schiffer, Vincent van de Ven, RouhlRob P WRPWMHENS, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.Department of Neurology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.Academic Center for Epileptology Kempenhaeghe/Ma, W M Palm, Robert J van Oostenbrugge, Albert P Aldenkamp, Chahinda Ghossein-Doha, SpaandermanMarc E AMEADepartment of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.GROW, School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands., and Walter H Backes.
• Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
• J Neuroimaging. 2021 Sep 1; 31 (5): 902-911.

Background And PurposeDynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) can be employed to assess the blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity. Detection of BBB leakage at lower field strengths (≤3T) is cumbersome as the signal is noisy, while leakage can be subtle. Utilizing the increased signal-to-noise ratio at higher field strengths, we explored the application of 7T DCE-MRI for assessing BBB leakage.MethodsA dual-time resolution DCE-MRI method was implemented at 7T and a slow injection rate (0.3 ml/s) and low dose (3 mmol) served to obtain signal changes linearly related to the gadolinium concentration, that is, minimized for T2 * degradation effects. With the Patlak graphical approach, the leakage rate (Ki ) and blood plasma volume fraction (vp ) were calculated. The method was evaluated in 10 controls, an ischemic stroke patient, and a patient with a transient ischemic attack.ResultsKi and vp were significantly higher in gray matter compared to white matter of all participants. These Ki values were higher in both patients compared to the control subjects. Finally, for the lesion identified in the ischemic stroke patient, higher leakage values were observed compared to normal-appearing tissue.ConclusionWe demonstrate how a dual-time resolution DCE-MRI protocol at 7T, with administration of half the clinically used contrast agent dose, can be used for assessing subtle BBB leakage. Although the feasibility of DCE-MRI for assessing the BBB integrity at 3T is well known, we showed that a continuous sampling DCE-MRI method tailored for 7T is also capable of assessing leakage with a high sensitivity over a range of Ki values.© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Neuroimaging published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society of Neuroimaging.

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