Abstract #5274

Optimization of CEST MRI at 7 Tesla for Detection of Cortical Gray Matter Pathology in Multiple Sclerosis

Kristin Poole O'Grady^1,2, Samantha By³, Bailey A. Box^1,2, Quinn R. Weinberg^1,2, Siddharama Pawate⁴, Francesca R. Bagnato⁴, and Seth A. Smith^1,2,5

¹Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Philips Healthcare, Baltimore, MD, United States, ⁴Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁵Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

Glutamate-sensitive chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI has been applied in the human brain and shows promise for detecting pathology related to dysfunctional glutamate regulation. Glutamate abnormalities are linked to cortical gray matter (GM) pathology and cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS), but quantitative assessment techniques are lacking. We optimized and applied CEST MRI at 7.0T in phantoms and in vivo to evaluate sensitivity to glutamate and the effect of saturation pulse duration. Our results show increased CEST contrast in cortical GM of MS patients relative to controls and demonstrate the potential of CEST in characterizing GM damage in MS.

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