Quantitative MRS of Ovaries & Ovarian Masses at 3T: Methodology & Initial Findings

Patrick J. Bolan¹, Jori S. Carter², Navneeth Lakkadi¹, Levi S. Downs Jr. ²

This work describes the development of a methodology for performing quantitative ¹H MRS in ovarian masses and normal ovaries at 3T and reports the initial findings in 68 spectra. MRS performance varied depending on the structure measured: healthy ovaries had low SNR due to small size, cystic regions had low metabolic content, and solid regions regularly showed a total choline (tCho) resonance and occasionally other metabolites including creatine, glycine, and an unidentified 2.05ppm resonance. The new quantification method, which uses T₂-corrected water as an internal reference, found tCho ranging from 0.2-3.4 mmol/kg in solid regions.