Abstract #1508
SWI filtered phase images demonstrate that tissue iron in the midbrain correlates with local capillary density
Haacke, Ph.D. E, Manova E, Ayaz M, Khan A, Kido D, Kirsch W
Wayne State University, The MRI Institute for Biomedical Research
Iron plays a key role in many neurological processes in the brain and in neuro-degenerative diseases. We observed that the filtered phase images in susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) correlate with the vascular content of a number of structures in the midbrain. The goal is to demonstrate that the SWI phase corresponds to the local non-heme iron content and not the local venous blood supply. The ability to map this type of iron may prove to be a new means to map brain iron associated with vessels and may prove useful in the identification and longitudinal follow-up of neuro-degenerative diseases.
