The Utility of Gd-DTPA Labeled Red Blood Cells as a Contrast Agent for DSC-MRI Studies

S. Nicole Driggins¹, John Gore¹, C. Chad Quarles¹

The goal of this study is to investigate the utility of Gd-DTPA labeled red blood cells (RBCs) as a contrast agent (CA) for Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast (DSC)-MRI studies. Bolus injections of labeled RBCs generated susceptibility-induced changes in DSC-MRI signal time courses, but these time courses were uncharacteristically heterogeneous across normal brain tissue, exhibited prolonged transit times and were smaller in magnitude than those measured using conventional CAs. These features are possibly the result of RBC coagulation and a subject of ongoing investigation. However, in the studies to date, CA labeled RBCs do exhibit potential as a DSC-MRI CA.