Proton magnetic resonance (MR) images were obtained of the human head in magnetic fields as high as 1.5 Tesla (T) using slotted resonator high radio-frequency (RF) detection coils. The images showed no RF field penetration problems and exhibited an 11 (+/- 1)-fold improvement in signal-to-noise ratio over a .12-T imaging system. The first localized phosphorus 31, carbon 13, and proton MR chemical shift spectra recorded with surface coils from the head and body in the same instrument showed relative concentrations of phosphorus metabolites, triglycerides, and, when correlated with proton images, negligible lipid (-CH2-) signal from brain tissue on the time scale of the imaging experiment. Sugar phosphate and phosphodiester concentrations were significantly elevated in the head compared with muscle. This method should allow the combined assessment of anatomy, metabolism, and biochemistry in both the normal and diseased brain.

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The high-energy myocardial phosphate metabolism of four patients with acute anterior myocardial infarction after coronary angioplasty and drug therapy was evaluated with cardiac-gated phosphorus magnetic resonance (MR) depth-resolved surface coil spectroscopy (DRESS) 5-9 days after the onset of symptoms. Significant reductions (about threefold) in the phosphocreatine (PCr) to inorganic phosphate (Pi) ratio and elevations in the Pi to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) ratio were observed in endocardially or transmurally derived MR spectra when compared with values from epicardially displaced spectra and values from seven healthy volunteers (P less than .05). High-energy phosphate metabolites and Pi ratios did not vary significantly during the cardiac cycle in healthy volunteers. However, contamination of Pi resonances by phosphomonoester components, including blood 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, precluded accurate spectral quantification of Pi and pH. The results indicate that localized P-31 MR spectroscopy may be used to directly assess cellular energy reserve in clinical myocardial infarction and to evaluate metabolic response to interventions.

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