Chao Ying Wang

Effects of Microvascular Permeability Changes on Contrast-Enhanced T1 and Pharmacokinetic MR Imagings After Ischemia

Background and Purpose— Brain enhancement on contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging (CET1-WI) after ischemic stroke is generally accepted as an indicator of the blood–brain barrier disruption. However, this phenomenon usually starts to become visible at the subacute phase. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the time-course profiles of Ktrans, cerebral blood volume (vp), and CET1-WI with early detection of blood–brain barrier changes on Ktrans maps and their role for prediction of subsequent hemorrhagic transformation in acute middle cerebral arterial infarct. Methods— Twenty-six patients with acute middle cerebral arterial stroke and early spontaneous reperfusion, whose MR images were obtained at predetermined stroke stages, were included. T2*-based MR perfusion-weighted images were acquired using the first-pass pharmacokinetic model to derive Ktrans and vp. Parenchymal enhancement observed on maps of Ktrans, vp, and CET1-WI at each stage was compared. Association among these measurements and hemorrhagic transformation was analyzed. Results— Ktrans map showed significantly higher parenchymal enhancement in ischemic parenchyma as compared with that of vp map and CET1-WI at early stroke stages (P<0.05). The increased Ktrans at acute stage was not associated with parenchymal enhancement in CET1-WI at the same stage. Parenchymal enhancement in CET1-WI started to occur at the late subacute stage and tended to be luxury reperfusion–dependent. Patients with hemorrhagic transformation showed higher mean Ktrans values as compared with patients without hemorrhagic transformation (P=0.02). Conclusions— Postischemic brain enhancement on routine CET1-WI seems to be closely related to the luxury reperfusion at the late subacute stage and is not dependent on microvascular permeability changes at the acute stage.

Are the Local Blood Oxygen Level–Dependent (BOLD) Signals Caused by Neural Stimulation Response Dependent on Global BOLD Signals Induced by Hypercapnia in the Functional MR Imaging Experiment? Experiments of Long-Duration Hypercapnia and Multilevel Carbon Dioxide Concentration

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The relationship between the local blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) signals caused by neural stimulation (fBOLD) and the global BOLD signals induced by hypercapnia (hBOLD) has not been fully investigated. In this study, we examine whether fBOLD is modulated by hBOLD signals, by means of experiments using a relatively wide range of inhaled carbon dioxide (CO2) for a long duration of 5 minutes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten healthy volunteers were recruited, each undergoing 6 separate experiments by inhaling gas mixtures with different fractions of CO2 (room air, 3%–7%). Each experiment contained 3 phases, prehypercapnic, hypercapnic, and posthypercapnic, during which boxcar visual stimulus was given. The local fBOLD signals were measured from areas showing activation patterns highly correlated with the visual stimulus paradigm, whereas the global hBOLD signals were measured from areas showing no visual activations. Percentage changes in fBOLD during transient-state hypercapnia and steady-state hypercapnia were both investigated in response to varying degrees of hypercapnic perturbations. RESULTS: The hBOLD signals increased with increase of inhaled CO2 fractions. The duration for the hBOLD signals to reach steady state prolonged with increase of inhaled CO2 fractions. Normalized fBOLD ratio was inversely related to the inhaled CO2 during steady-state hypercapnia but showed positive association with hBOLD during transient-state hypercapnia. CONCLUSION: Our study concludes that the steady-state fBOLD signal intensity is dependent on and inversely related to the hBOLD signals. Previous reports documenting independent and additive relationships between hBOLD and fBOLD may likely be due to transient-state observations.

Idiopathic Growth Hormone Deficiency in the Morphologically Normal Pituitary Gland Is Associated with Perfusion Delay

PURPOSE To investigate quantitatively the topographic perfusion characteristics of the adenohypophysis by using dynamic contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in a subgroup of patients with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) and with normal-appearing pituitary morphology on MR images. MATERIALS AND METHODS This HIPAA-compliant, prospective study was approved by an institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained for all patients. Twenty-five patients (mean age, 10.6 years ± 3.3 [standard deviation]) with clinical growth retardation, proved IGHD, and normal pituitary morphology on MR images were included for analysis. Sixteen children (mean age, 10.8 years ± 5.5) were included as control subjects. Time to peak (TTP) perfusion properties of the adenohypophysis in 10 regions of interest from multisection coronal dynamic contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MR images were quantitatively derived by using the Brix pharmacokinetic model. Significant difference was determined with a two-tailed Student t test. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to correlate the perfusion parameters, including maximal enhancement peak and slope, with serum growth hormone levels in the IGHD group. RESULTS TTP for the IGHD group was significantly prolonged compared with that for the control group (P < .005). The prolonged TTP in the IGHD group was found to be diffuse. The levels of growth hormone deficiency were negatively correlated with the peak enhancement and the slope of the wash-in phase, which suggests increased blood volume in IGHD within the pituitary gland. CONCLUSION IGHD and the degree of growth hormone deficiency are associated with nonregional perfusion delay in morphologically normal adenohypophyses. The lack of lateralization of perfusion delay may suggest that microvascular structural abnormalities play a role in IGHD.

Tensor deflection (TEND) tractography with adaptive subvoxel stepping

To develop an adaptive subvoxel stepping scheme, as an adjunct to tensor deflection (TEND) tractography, that automatically adjusts the stepping size by considering the tensor linearity to properly trace fiber bundles in regions with different degrees of tensor anisotropy.

T2-enhanced tensor diffusion trace-weighted image in the detection of hyper-acute cerebral infarction: Comparison with isotropic diffusion-weighted image

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Although isotropic diffusion-weighted imaging (isoDWI) is very sensitive to the detection of acute ischemic stroke, it may occasionally show diffusion negative result in hyper-acute stroke. We hypothesize that high diffusion contrast diffusion trace-weighted image with enhanced T2 may improve stroke lesion conspicuity. METHODS Five hyper acute stroke patients (M:F=0:5, average age=61.8+/-20.5 y/o) and 16 acute stroke patients (M:F=11:5, average age=67.7+/-12 y/o) were examined six-direction tensor DWIs at b=707s/mm(2). Three different diffusion-weighted images, including isotropic (isoDWI), diffusion trace-weighted image (trDWI) and T2-enhanced diffusion trace-weighted image (T2E_trDWI), were generated. Normalized lesion-to-normal ratio (nLNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of three diffusion images were calculated from each patient and statistically compared. RESULTS The trDWI shows better nLNR than isoDWI on both hyper-acute and acute stroke lesions, whereas no significant improvement in CNR. Nevertheless, the T2E_trDWI has statistically superior CNR and nLNR than those of isoDWI and trDWI in both hyper-acute and acute stroke. CONCLUSIONS We concluded that tensor diffusion trace-weighted image with T2 enhancement is more sensitive to stroke lesion detection, and can provide higher lesion conspicuity than the conventional isotropic DWI for early stroke lesion delineation without the need of high-b-value technique.

T2 values of posterior horns of knee menisci in asymptomatic subjects.

Purpose The magnetic resonance (MR) T2 value of cartilage is a reliable indicator of tissue properties and therefore may be used as an objective diagnostic tool in early meniscal degeneration. The purpose of this study was to investigate age, gender, location, and zonal differences in MR T2 value of the posterior horns of knee menisci in asymptomatic subjects. Methods Sixty asymptomatic volunteers (30 men and 30 women) were enrolled and divided into three different age groups: 20–34, 35–49 and 50–70 years. The inclusion criteria were BMI<30 kg/cm2 , normalized Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) pain score of zero, and no evidence of meniscal and ligamentous abnormalities on routine knee MR imaging. The T2 values were measured on images acquired with a T2-weighted fat-suppressed turbo spin-echo sequence at 3T. Results The mean T2 values in both medial and lateral menisci for the 20–34, 35–49, and 50–70 age groups were 9.94 msec±0.94, 10.73 msec±1.55, and 12.36 msec±2.27, respectively, for women and 9.17 msec±0.74, 9.64 msec±0.67, and 10.95 msec±1.33, respectively, for men. The T2 values were significantly higher in the 50–70 age group than the 20–34 age group (P<0.001) and in women than in men (P = 0.001, 0.004, and 0.049 for each respective age group). T2 values were significantly higher in medial menisci than in lateral menisci only in women age 50–70 (3.33 msec, P = 0.006) and in the white zone and red/white zone of the 50–70 and 35–49 age groups than that of the 20–34 age group (2.47, 1.02; 2.77, 1.16 msec, respectively, all P<0.01). Conclusion The MR T2 values of the posterior meniscal horns increase with increasing age in women and are higher in women than in men. The age-related rise of T2 values appears to be more severe in medial menisci than in lateral menisci. Differences exist in the white zone and red/white zone.

Change in T2∗ relaxation time of Hoffa fat pad correlates with histologic change in a rat anterior cruciate ligament transection model

The Hoffa fat pad (infrapatellar fat pad) is a source of post‐traumatic anterior knee pain, and Hoffa disease is a syndrome leading to chronic inflammation of the fat pad. Herein, change in T2* relaxation time of the fat pad was measured in a rodent anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLX) model in order to (i) examine the causal relationship of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) deficiency and Hoffa disease and (ii) demonstrate the feasibility of using T2* as an imaging biomarker to monitor disease progression. Three groups of male Sprague Dawley rats (n = 6 each group), received either (i) no intervention; (ii) sham surgery at the right knee; or (iii) right ACLX. T2* relaxation time was measured and histology was examined in the Hoffa fat pad after surgery. At 13 and 18 weeks after surgery, T2* values were significantly higher in the right fat pad than the left (p < 0.001) and significantly higher in the ACLX group than the control and sham groups (p < 0.001). Histology showed fibrosis and degeneration of adipocytes in the right knees of the ACLX group. We conclude that ACL deficiency and Hoffa disease are causally related and that MRI T2* value can serve as an imaging biomarker of Hoffa disease progression.

Histogram analysis of T2*-based pharmacokinetic imaging in cerebral glioma grading

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE To investigate the feasibility of histogram analysis of the T2*-based permeability parameter volume transfer constant (Ktrans) for glioma grading and to explore the diagnostic performance of the histogram analysis of Ktrans and blood plasma volume (vp). METHODS We recruited 31 and 11 patients with high- and low-grade gliomas, respectively. The histogram parameters of Ktrans and vp, derived from the first-pass pharmacokinetic modeling based on the T2* dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (T2* DSC-PW-MRI) from the entire tumor volume, were evaluated for differentiating glioma grades. RESULTS Histogram parameters of Ktrans and vp showed significant differences between high- and low-grade gliomas and exhibited significant correlations with tumor grades. The mean Ktrans derived from the T2* DSC-PW-MRI had the highest sensitivity and specificity for differentiating high-grade gliomas from low-grade gliomas compared with other histogram parameters of Ktrans and vp. CONCLUSIONS Histogram analysis of T2*-based pharmacokinetic imaging is useful for cerebral glioma grading. The histogram parameters of the entire tumor Ktrans measurement can provide increased accuracy with additional information regarding microvascular permeability changes for identifying high-grade brain tumors.

Multislice and multipixel analysis of dynamic susceptibility contrast enhanced MR perfusion imaging of isolated pituitary dwarfism

To investigate the changes in the pituitary microcirculation in dwarfism patients, we performed dynamic MR imaging to measure the delayed contrast enhancement in patients. The perfusion deficiency was also evaluated spatially to correlate with the growth hormone deficiency.