Comparison of Myocardial Blood Flow Estimates from Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Four Quantitative Analysis Methods

Nathan A. Pack¹, Edward V.R. DiBella¹, Christopher J. McGann¹

Quantitative estimates of myocardial blood flow in DCE-MRI studies have been published in recent years, though the absolute measures of blood flow have varied widely, possibly depending on what analysis method was used to analyze the dynamic perfusion data. In this work, four quantitative analysis methods (2-compartment modeling, Fermi function modeling, model-independent analysis, and Patlak plot analysis) were implemented and compared in 20 human subjects imaged at rest and adenosine stress. While there was good correlation between blood flow estimates between the four analysis methods, the absolute values of rest and stress blood flow were significantly different.