Abstract
Proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS) has been used for in vivo quantification of intracellular triglycerides within the sarcolemma. The purpose of this study was to assess whether breath-hold dual-echo in- and out-of-phase MRI at 3.0 T can quantify the fat content of the myocardium. Biases, including T1, Tz.ast;2, and noise, that confound the calculation of the fat fraction were carefully corrected. Thirty-four of 46 participants had both MRI and MRS data. The fat fractions from MRI showed a strong correlation with fat fractions from MRS (r = 0.78; P < 0.05). The mean myocardial fat fraction for all 34 subjects was 0.7 ± 0.5% (range: 0.11-3%) assessed with MRS and 1.04 ± 0.4% (range: 0.32-2.44%) assessed with in- and out-of-phase MRI (P < 0.05). Scanning times were less than 15 sec for Dixon imaging, plus an additional minute for the acquisition used for Tz.ast;2 calculation, and 15-20 min for MRS. The average postprocessing time for MRS was 3 min and 5 min for MRI including T z.ast;2 measurement. We conclude that the dual echo method provides a rapid means to detect and quantifying myocardial fat content in vivo. Correction/adjustment for field inhomogeneity using three or more echoes seems crucial for the dual echo approach.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 892-901 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Magnetic resonance in medicine |
Volume | 63 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2010 |
Keywords
- Cardiac steatosis
- Dixon
- Magnetic resonance imaging
- Spectroscopy
- Water-fat separation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging