Decorte Nicolas1, Laurie Cabrol1, Mathilde Drouet2, Noura Azzabou1, Pierre G. Carlier1
1Institute of Myology, CEA, Paris, 75013, France; 2Institute of Myology, CEA, , Paris, 75013, France
Abnormal skeletal muscle enhancement post Gd-contrast agent IV injection is observed in many conditions (inflammation, dystrophy, fibrosis). Reference values for normal muscles were not available, which made impossible classification and decision based on quantitative analysis. These benchmarks are provided here, with data from twelve healthy volunteers, six male, six female, 22-67 year old, having received an IV injection of Gd-DOTA. The time-courses of thigh muscle signal enhancement were analyzed both phenomenologically (time to peak, maximum relative enhancement, decay time constant) and analytically (extracellular volume fraction, rate constant and transfer constant).