Abstract #1666

keson P, Diaz S, Casselbrant I, Piitulainen E, Wollmer P, Magnusson P, Pettersson G, Peterson B

The goal of this study is to compare the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient of hyperpolarized 3He -Inhalation MRI with Emphysema Index of multislice CT in patients with early emphysema. 22 patients were examined with hyperpolarized 3He inhalation at 1.5T. The mean ADC calculated from 3HeMRI correlated well with EI calculated from CT imaging, but the MRI method does not involve the use of ionizing radiation. Furthermore, compared to EI, the mean ADC had a stronger correlation with DLCO, the physiological measure of emphysema. These results help establish the validity of 3HeMRI for assessing lung structure in patients with emphysema.