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Contrast‐enhanced MRI of periarticular soft‐tissue changes in experimental arthritis of the rat
Author(s) -
Terrier François,
Revel Didier,
Reinhold Charles E.,
Levine Jon,
Grodd Wolfgang,
Genant Harry K.,
Brasch Robert C.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.1910030304
Subject(s) - soft tissue , contrast (vision) , magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , dynamic contrast enhanced mri , arthritis , nuclear magnetic resonance , radiology , nuclear medicine , physics , optics
This study was to determine if manipulation of magnetic resonance signal intensity by means of an intravenously injected paramagnetic contrast agent is useful for the detection and characterization of periarticular inflammation. Arthritis was induced in 20 rats by means of intradermal injection of Freund's complete adjuvant. MR imaging was performed with a resistive magnet operating at 0.35 T. A double spin‐echo technique with T E 's of 28 and 56 ms and T R 's of 0.5 and 2.0 s was used. The hindpaws of the adjuvant‐injected rats were imaged on Day 8, Day 11, or Day 15 following injection of the adjuvant. The images were obtained in the transverse plane before and after intravenous injection of gadolinium‐DTPA (0.2 mmol/kg). Because of their long T 2 relaxation time, inflammatory lesions were characterized by high MR signal intensity on precontrast images obtained with long T R and long T E ( T 2 ‐weighted images). On the other hand, because of their long T 1 relaxation time, the inflammatory lesions were of relatively low intensity and not easily recognized on precontrast images obtained with short T R and short T E ( T 1 ‐weighted images). Postcontrast T 1 ‐weighted images were also sensitive in detecting periarticular inflammation as a result of T 1 shortening by the gadolinium‐DTPA. However, in our particular model, the data did not indicate any greater MR sensitivity for detecting arthritis by means of gadolinium‐DTPA enhancement. © 1986 Academic Press, Inc.