Arterial spin labeling signal in the CSF: Implications for partial volume correction and blood-CSF barrier characterization.

For better quantification of perfusion with arterial spin labeling (ASL), partial volume correction (PVC) is used to disentangle the signals from gray matter (GM) and white matter within any voxel. Based on physiological considerations, PVC algorithms typically assume zero signal in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Recent measurements, however, have shown that CSF-ASL signal can exceed 10% of GM signal, even when using recommended ASL labeling parameters.

Combining T measurements and crusher gradients into a single ASL sequence for comparison of the measurement of water transport across the blood-brain barrier.

Purpose: Arterial spin labeling can be used to assess the transition time of water molecules across the blood-brain barrier when combined with sequence modules, which allow a separation of intravascular from tissue signal. The bipolar gradient technique measures the intravascular fraction by removing flowing spins. The T -relaxation-under-spin-tagging (TRUST) technique modulates the TE to differentiate between intravascular and extravascular spins based on T .

MRI cine-tagging of cardiac-induced motion for noninvasive staging of liver fibrosis.

Background: MR elastography is a noninvasive technique that provides high diagnostic accuracy for the staging of liver fibrosis; however, it requires external hardware and mainly assesses the right lobe.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of MRI cine-tagging for staging fibrosis in the left liver lobe, using biopsy as the reference standard.

Study Type: Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved two-center prospective study.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI to assess hepatocellular carcinoma response to Transarterial chemoembolization using LI-RADS criteria: A pilot study.

Purpose: To identify quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI perfusion parameters indicating tumor response of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Materials And Methods: This prospective pilot study was approved by our institutional review board; written and informed consent was obtained for each participant. Patients underwent DCE-MRI examinations before and after TACE.

Liver Fibrosis Quantification by Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Liver fibrosis is a hallmark of chronic liver disease characterized by the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins. Although liver biopsy is the reference standard for diagnosis and staging of liver fibrosis, it has some limitations, including potential pain, sampling variability, and low patient acceptance. Hence, there has been an effort to develop noninvasive imaging techniques for diagnosis, staging, and monitoring of liver fibrosis.

Liver fibrosis: Review of current imaging and MRI quantification techniques.

Unlabelled: Liver fibrosis is characterized by the accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins such as collagen in the liver interstitial space. All causes of chronic liver disease may lead to fibrosis and cirrhosis. The severity of liver fibrosis influences the decision to treat or the need to monitor hepatic or extrahepatic complications.