Tatsuya Yamamoto1, Hidemasa Uematsu1,
Hiroaki Takeuchi2, Hirohiko Kimura1
1Department of Radiology, University of
Fukui, Fukui, Japan; 2Department of Neurosurgery, University of
Fukui, Fukui, Japan
T1
shortening effect due to the leakage of contrast agent causes underestimation
of the tumor vascularity using single-echo perfusion-weighted MR imaging. On
the other hand, T2* shortening due to contrast material present in the
extravascular space causes overestimation. To incorporate the effects of the
extravascular compartment containing contrast material residue,
pharmacokinetic modeling with two compartments: the intravascular space; and
the extravascular space: is required. We demonstrate here that the
combination of an alternate-echo, single shot SPIRAL acquisition and
first-pass pharmacokinetic model can correct for the T1 shortening effect, as
well as for the T2* shortening in order to evaluate the exact tumor
vascularity of enhancing glioblastoma multiforme.
Keywords