Premium
Adding another spectral dimension to 1 H magnetic resonance spectroscopy of hepatic encephalopathy
Author(s) -
Binesh Nader,
Huda Amir,
Bugbee Mary,
Gupta Rakesh,
Rasgon Natalie,
Kumar Anand,
Green Michael,
Han Steven,
Thomas M. Albert
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.20291
Subject(s) - nuclear magnetic resonance , glutamine , hepatic encephalopathy , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear medicine , choline , creatine , taurine , metabolite , in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy , chemistry , medicine , physics , radiology , biochemistry , cirrhosis , amino acid
Purpose To evaluate a localized two‐dimensional correlated magnetic resonance spectroscopic (L‐COSY) technique in patients with hepatic encephalopathy (HE) and healthy subjects, and to correlate the cerebral metabolite changes with neuropsychological (NP) test scores. Materials and Methods Eighteen minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) patients and 21 healthy controls have been investigated. A GE 1.5‐T magnetic resonance (MR) scanner was used in combination with a body MR coil for transmission and a 3‐inch surface coil for reception. A 27‐mL voxel was localized by three slice‐selective radio frequency (RF) pulses (90°‐180°‐90°) in the anterior cingulate region. The total duration of each two‐dimensional L‐COSY spectrum was approximately 25 minutes. The NP battery included a total of 15 tests, which were grouped into six domains. Results MR spectroscopic results showed a statistically significant decrease in myo‐inositol (mI) and choline (Ch) and an increase in glutamate/glutamine (Glx) in patients when compared to healthy controls. There was also an increase in taurine (Tau) in patients. The NP results indicated a significant correlation between motor function assessed by NP tests and mI ratios recorded using two‐dimensional L‐COSY. Conclusion The study demonstrated the feasibility of evaluating the two‐dimensional L‐COSY sequence in a clinical environment. The results showed additional cerebral metabolites that can be measured with the technique in comparison to one‐dimensional study. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2005;21:398–405. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.