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Abstract #0086

Abnormalities of Lung Structure in Children with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia as Assessed by Diffusion Hyperpolarized Helium-3 MRI

Paget-Brown A, Froh D, de Lange E, Mugler J, Altes T, Mata J
University of Virginia

45 subjects, including 32 healthy subjects with a history of uncomplicated term birth and 13 with a history of preterm birth complicated by subsequent bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), underwent diffusion hyperpolarized helium-3 MR. The subjects with BPD had a higher group average of the mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) (0.198 cm2/s) than the healthy subjects (0.157 cm2/s), p=0.0001, and 38% of subjects with BPD had heterogeneous ADC maps while all of the healthy subjects had homogeneous ADC maps. Diffusion hyperpolarized helium-3 MR appears to be able to detect the expected lung structural abnormalities, including enlarged alveoli, in children with BPD.