MRI of arthritis with the USPIOSHU555C: Optimization of T1 enhancement ROFO-FORTSCHRITTE AUF DEM GEBIET DER RONTGENSTRAHLEN UND DER BILDGEBENDEN VERFAHREN Simon, G., Daldrup-Link, H., von Vopelius-Feldt, J., Wendland, M., Fu, Y., Schlegel, J., Rummeny, E. 2006; 178 (2): 200-206

Abstract

To optimize contrast agent dose and pulse sequence parameters in order to achieve a maximal T1 enhancement in arthritic knee joints with ultra small superparamagnetic iron oxides (USPIO)-enhanced MRI.Antigen-mediated arthritis was induced in the right knee of nine Sprague Dawley rats. The arthritic knee joint as well as the contralateral normal knee were investigated in a 2 Tesla MR scanner before as well as in short intervals up to 2 h after USPIO injection, using T1-weighted gradient echo (GE) sequences. Three rats each received intravenous injections of the new USPIO SHU 555 C (SH U 555 C, Schering AG, Berlin) at doses of 40, 100 and 200 micromol Fe/kg. Pulse sequence parameters of the GE-sequence were optimized by varying flip angles (alpha) and echo times (TE). Changes in signal intensities (SI) of the arthritic knee and contralateral normal knee were quantified as DeltaSI (%) = /([SIpost - SIpre] / SIpre) x 100 %/ and compared with histopathology.Histology of the arthritic knees demonstrated a marked inflammatory proliferation of the synovium. The USPIO SH U 555 C caused a significant increase in signal intensity of the arthritic joints on T1-weighted MR images (p < 0.05). This effect was optimized using a flip angle of 60-70 degrees, a minimal TE and a dose of 200 micromol Fe/kg. Visually the contralateral normal knee did not show any USPIO enhancement.Inflammation can be depicted with marked T1 enhancement by the USPIO SH U 555 C using high contrast agent doses and optimized MR pulse sequence parameters.

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