Measurement of tumor blood flow using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and deconvolution analysis: a preliminary study in musculoskeletal tumors

OBJECTIVE: To measure tumor blood flow (TBF) using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI). METHODS: A DCE-MRI was performed using inversion recovery-preparation fast-field echo sequences. Dynamic data were obtained every 3.2 seconds for 2 minutes, immediately after gadolinium injection. In 14 patients with malignant musculoskeletal tumors, TBF maps were generated pixel-by-pixel by deconvolution analysis. For preclinical studies, muscle blood flow in 5 volunteers and signal intensities of different gadolinium concentrations were measured. RESULTS: There was a good linear relationship between signal intensities and gadolinium concentrations (r = 0.989, P < 0.001, at gadolinium concentrations