Abstract #4070

Quantitation of Renal Perfusion in an Animal Model at 3T: A Comparison Between ASL and DCE-MRI

Fabian Zimmer¹, Frank G. Zoellner¹, Simone Hoeger², Sarah Klotz², Charalambos Tsagogiorgas³, Lothar R. Schad¹

¹Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; ²Department of Medicine V, University Medical Centre Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; ³Clinic for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

The assessment of kidney function by measuring renal microvascular perfusion is crucial to diagnose and treat renal diseases at an early stage of progression. MRI provides two techniques to assess renal perfusion: Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI and arterial spin labelling (ASL). In this study, ASL has been established to quantitatively measure renal cortical perfusion in rats with unilateral ischaemic acute renal failure. The ASL estimates were compared against those obtained by DCE-MRI. Both methods are in good agreement and show no statistical differences. Furthermore, both methods depict significant blood flow differences between healthy and diseased kidneys.