Repeatability of Quantitative First-Pass Perfusion MRI in the Mouse Myocardium

Bastiaan J. van Nierop¹, Bram F. Coolen¹, Wouter J.R. Dijk¹, Larry de Graaf¹, Klaas Nicolay¹, Gustav J. Strijkers¹

The repeatability of quantitative, first-pass perfusion MRI in the healthy mouse heart was evaluated. A dual-bolus approach was used for accurate determination of the arterial input function (AIF). Direct experimental evidence from 28 pre-boluses showed that this approach results in an unsaturated AIF, by establishing linearity of the AIF signal intensity with Gd-DTPA concentration. Next, myocardial perfusion (ml/min/g) was quantified in 9 mice using a Fermi constraint deconvolution model. The repeatability was demonstrated by measuring perfusion at two time points. The resulting between-session coefficient of variation (11%) makes this method well-suited for longitudinal studies in mouse models of cardiac disease.