• Tungte Wang, Georg Schultz, Helge Hebestreit, Alexandra Hebestreit, Dietbert Hahn, and Peter M Jakob.
• Department of Physics, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2003 Aug 1; 18 (2): 260-5.

PurposeTo evaluate the feasibility and reproducibility of a noninvasive, rapid and quantitative pulmonary perfusion mapping method using a two-compartment tissue model in combination with a (1)H spin labeling technique.Materials And MethodsTen healthy volunteers and three patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) were examined on a 1.5-T whole-body scanner. Global and selective lung T(1) maps based on an inversion recovery Snapshot FLASH technique were acquired from each subject with breath-holds at end-expiration. For comparison, corresponding Gd-DTPA-enhanced (1)H MR perfusion images were also obtained from each CF patient.ResultsQuantitative perfusion maps were calculated from the global and selective T(1) maps. The measured perfusion rates of the upper right lung in volunteers ranged from 400 to 600 mL/100 g/minute. The method showed a high intra-study reproducibility and low relative errors. In CF-patients, perfusion defects detected using Gd-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging were also detected using the spin labeling method. The perfusion rates of diseased lung tissues were less than 200 mL/100 g/minute.ConclusionNoninvasive, robust and quantitative (1)H MR mapping of pulmonary perfusion was successfully performed using a rapid lung T(1) mapping in combination with spin labeling within the imaging slice. The proposed method has the potential to provide both important qualitative functional information and quantitative pulmonary perfusion rates in various lung diseases at various stages without the need of contrast agents.Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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