Myocardial fat quantification in humans: Evaluation by two‐point water‐fat imaging and localized proton spectroscopy |
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| Authors: | Chia‐Ying Liu Alban Redheuil Ronald Ouwerkerk Joao A C Lima David A Bluemke |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, USA;2. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA;3. Radiology and Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA |
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| 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, T*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 T*2 calculation, and 15‐20 min for MRS. The average postprocessing time for MRS was 3 min and 5 min for MRI including T*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. Magn Reson Med 63:892–901, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. |
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| Keywords: | cardiac steatosis Dixon spectroscopy magnetic resonance imaging water‐fat separation |
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