Abstract #1304

T2 Relaxation Assessments of Kidney and Liver Disease in the PCK Rat Model of Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD)

Huaiqiang Sun¹,², Lan Lu², David L. Wilson¹, Katherine M. Dell³,⁴, Chris A. Flask,¹²

¹Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States; ²Radiology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States; ³Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University, and Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital, Cleveland, OH, United States; ⁴CWRU Center for the Study of Kidney Disease and Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States

Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD) is a multiorgan disease manifest as increasing renal cysts as well as hepatobiliary dilatation and congenital hepatic fibrosis. We are exploring the potential of T₂ relaxation assessments to assess renal cystic burden and hepatobiliary dilatation in the PCK rat model of ARPKD. In this study, we demonstrated that removal of early echoes (TE = 10-30ms) from the T₂ calculation can reduce the biexponential nature of the T₂ decay curve likely caused by tissue perfusion. As a result, these T₂ estimations may provide accurate estimates of hepatobiliary dilatation as well as renal cystic burden.