Abstract #4004

On the composition of Glx in MEGA-PRESS measurements at 3T, is it glutamate?

Tamar M van Veenendaal^1,2, Walter H Backes^1,2, Richard AE Edden^3,4, Nicholaas AJ Puts^3,4, Dominique M IJff^2,5, Albert P Aldenkamp^2,5, and Jacobus FA Jansen^1,2

¹Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Netherlands, ²School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands, ³Russel H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁴F.M. Kirby Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁵Epilepsy Center Kempenhaeghe, Heeze, Netherlands

Some authors claim that the 3.7 ppm Glx peak, measured with MEGA-PRESS, constitutes predominantly glutamate. This claim was tested measuring nine phantoms with different glutamate, glutamine, and GABA concentrations using a MEGA-PRESS sequence on a 3T MR scanner. The spectra were analyzed with Gannet (to measure the Glx peak) and LCModel (as an alternative approach). The results show that both glutamate and glutamine attribute to the Glx peak, but that an exclusive estimation of glutamate and glutamine is possible by using LCModel for analysis.

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