Marica Cutajar1, Stephen D. Marks2, Paul Brogan3, Isky Gordon1
1Radiology and Physics, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK; 2Renal Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK; 3Dept of Rheumatology, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK
In the past few years a lot of work has gone into investigating the application of BOLD MRI in diagnosing renal abnormalities. In this study, T2* weighted BOLD MR images were acquired performed using a multi-gradient-recalled-echo sequence with 12 echoes. This study was performed firstly to assess the oxygenation state of healthy native and transplant kidneys and, secondly, to evaluate the feasibility and reproducibility of BOLD MRI in healthy volunteers and compare this to kidney transplant patients. All volunteers were asked to hold their breath during the scans to avoid movement errors in the images. R2* values were calculated which reflect the deoxyhaemoglobin levels present in the kidney.