Reference Values for Quantitative Analysis of Gd-Contrast Enhancement Kinetics in Skeletal Muscle NMR Imaging.

Decorte Nicolas¹, Laurie Cabrol¹, Mathilde Drouet², Noura Azzabou¹, Pierre G. Carlier¹

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).