Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: safety and tolerability of hyperpolarized 129Xe MR imaging in healthy volunteers and patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of inhaling multiple 1-L volumes of undiluted hyperpolarized xenon 129 ((129)Xe) followed by up to a 16-second breath hold and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.

Materials And Methods: This study was approved by the institutional review board and was HIPAA compliant. Written informed consent was obtained.

Diffusion-weighted hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI in healthy volunteers and subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Given its greater availability and lower cost, (129) Xe apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) MRI offers an alternative to (3) He ADC MRI. To demonstrate the feasibility of hyperpolarized (129) Xe ADC MRI, we present results from healthy volunteers (HV), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) subjects, and age-matched healthy controls (AMC). The mean parenchymal ADC was 0.

Effects of atypical infections with Mycoplasma and Chlamydia on asthma.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydophila pneumoniae are atypical bacteria that are frequently found in patients with asthma. A definitive diagnosis of infection is often difficult to obtain because of limitations with sampling and detection. Numerous animal studies have outlined mechanisms by which these infections may promote allergic lung inflammation and airway remodeling.

Hyperpolarized Xe MR imaging of alveolar gas uptake in humans.

Background: One of the central physiological functions of the lungs is to transfer inhaled gases from the alveoli to pulmonary capillary blood. However, current measures of alveolar gas uptake provide only global information and thus lack the sensitivity and specificity needed to account for regional variations in gas exchange.

Methods And Principal Findings: Here we exploit the solubility, high magnetic resonance (MR) signal intensity, and large chemical shift of hyperpolarized (HP) (129)Xe to probe the regional uptake of alveolar gases by directly imaging HP (129)Xe dissolved in the gas exchange tissues and pulmonary capillary blood of human subjects.