𝔖 Bobbio Scriptorium
✦   LIBER   ✦

Comparison of contrast agents with high molarity and with weak protein binding in cerebral perfusion imaging at 3 T

✍ Scribed by Oliver Thilmann; Elna-Marie Larsson; Isabella M. Björkman-Burtscher; Freddy Ståhlberg; Ronnie Wirestam


Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
2005
Tongue
English
Weight
300 KB
Volume
22
Category
Article
ISSN
1053-1807

No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.

✦ Synopsis


Abstract

Purpose

To examine and compare properties of high‐molarity contrast agent gadobutrol (Gadovist) and weakly protein‐binding agent gadobenate‐dimeglumine (MultiHance®) in dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) perfusion imaging at 3 T.

Materials and Methods

Sixteen healthy volunteers underwent three separate examinations with contrast agent doses of 0.1 and 0.2 mmol/kg body weight (bw) gadobutrol and 0.1 mmol/kg bw gadobenate‐dimeglumine. Maps of relative regional cerebral blood volume (rCBV) and blood flow (rCBF) were calculated using deconvolution based on singular value decomposition. Signal and concentration time curves, the concentration‐to‐noise ratio (SNR~c~), and gray matter (GM)‐to‐white matter (WM) rCBV and rCBF contrast and ratios were evaluated in a region of interest (ROI)‐based analysis. Image quality of calculated parametric maps was assessed in direct visual comparison and with respect to suitability for diagnostic purposes.

Results

The contrast agents displayed very similar results in the 0.1 mmol/kg examinations, both with respect to the quantitative evaluation parameters and in the qualitative assessment of the calculated parametric maps. Maps from 0.2 mmol/kg examinations were rated as being superior in quality, but with respect to diagnostic suitability all contrast agents and doses yielded images of sufficient quality.

Conclusion

At 3 T, a gadobutrol or gadobenate‐dimeglumine dose of 0.1 mmol/kg is sufficient for DSC magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) perfusion assessment. At the used small injection volumes, the tissue concentration curve was determined only by the gadolinium (Gd) dosage in mmol/kg, and the T2* relaxation effects of the two agents can be considered to be nearly identical in the applied gradient‐echo (GRE) sequence. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.