• Kun Qing, Kai Ruppert, Yun Jiang, Jaime F Mata, G Wilson Miller, Y Michael Shim, Chengbo Wang, Iulian C Ruset, F William Hersman, Talissa A Altes, and John P Mugler.
• Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2014 Feb 1;39(2):346-59.

PurposeTo develop a breathhold acquisition for regional mapping of ventilation and the fractions of hyperpolarized xenon-129 (Xe129) dissolved in tissue (lung parenchyma and plasma) and red blood cells (RBCs), and to perform an exploratory study to characterize data obtained in human subjects.Materials And MethodsA three-dimensional, multi-echo, radial-trajectory pulse sequence was developed to obtain ventilation (gaseous Xe129), tissue, and RBC images in healthy subjects, smokers, and asthmatics. Signal ratios (total dissolved Xe129 to gas, tissue-to-gas, RBC-to-gas, and RBC-to-tissue) were calculated from the images for quantitative comparison.ResultsHealthy subjects demonstrated generally uniform values within coronal slices, and a gradient in values along the anterior-to-posterior direction. In contrast, images and associated ratio maps in smokers and asthmatics were generally heterogeneous and exhibited values mostly lower than those in healthy subjects. Whole-lung values of total dissolved Xe129 to gas, tissue-to-gas, and RBC-to-gas ratios in healthy subjects were significantly larger than those in diseased subjects.ConclusionRegional maps of tissue and RBC fractions of dissolved Xe129 were obtained from a short breathhold acquisition, well tolerated by healthy volunteers and subjects with obstructive lung disease. Marked differences were observed in spatial distributions and overall amounts of Xe129 dissolved in tissue and RBCs among healthy subjects, smokers and asthmatics.Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

34 keywords...

hide…