MRI in lung transplant recipients using hyperpolarized3He: Comparison with CT

Abstract

Purpose To elucidate the ability of ³He‐MRI to detect ventilation defects in lung transplant recipients, ³He‐MRI was compared to CT for concordance. Materials and Methods We examined 14 lung recipients using ³He‐MRI on a 1.5 T MR scanner. CT served as a reference method. Up to four representative ventilation defects were defined for each lung on ³He‐MRI and compared to corresponding areas on CT. Results Altogether, 59 representative ventilation defects were defined on ³He‐MRI. Plausible CT correlates were found for 29 ventilation defects; less plausible CT correlates were found for eight defects. In 22 defects (37%) no corresponding CT changes were detected. CT demonstrated correlates for ventilation defects seen on ³He‐MRI in only 63% of the cases. Conclusion ³He‐MRI yields a clear increase in the number of detected ventilation defects compared to CT. This may have an important impact on the early detection of bronchiolitis obliterans in lung transplant recipients. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2002;15:268–274.