High‐temporospatial‐resolution dynamic contrast‐enhanced (DCE) wrist MRI with variable‐density pseudo‐random circular Cartesian undersampling (CIRCUS) acquisition: evaluation of perfusion in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Abstract

This study is to evaluate highly accelerated 3D dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) wrist MRI for assessment of perfusion in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. A pseudo-random variable-density undersampling strategy, CIRcular Cartesian UnderSampling (CIRCUS), was combined with k-t SPARSE-SENSE reconstruction to achieve a highly accelerated 3D DCE wrist MRI. Two healthy volunteers and ten RA patients were studied. Two patients were on methotrexate (MTX) only (Group I) and the other eight were treated with a combination therapy of MTX and Anti-Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF) therapy (Group II). Patients were scanned at baseline and 3-month follow-up. DCE MR images were used to evaluate perfusion in synovitis and bone marrow edema pattern in the RA wrist joints. A series of perfusion parameters were derived and compared with clinical disease activity scores of 28 joints (DAS28). 3D DCE wrist MR images were obtained with a spatial resolution of 0.3×0.3×1.5mm3 and temporal resolution of 5 s (with an acceleration factor of 20). The derived perfusion parameters, most notably, transition time (dT) of synovitis, showed significant negative correlations with DAS28-ESR (r=-0.80, p<0.05) and DAS28-CRP (r=-0.87, p<0.05) at baseline and also correlated significantly with treatment responses evaluated by clinical score changes between baseline and 3-month follow-up (with DAS28-ESR: r=-0.79, p<0.05, and DAS28-CRP: r=-0.82, p<0.05). Highly accelerated 3D DCE wrist MRI with improved temporospatial resolution has been achieved in RA patients and provides accurate assessment of neovascularization and perfusion in RA joints, showing promise as a potential tool for evaluating treatment responses.

Assessment of therapeutic response in Crohn's disease using quantitative dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) parameters

“…[ 15 ] Meanwhile, studies have employed this technique to assess neovascularization in inflammatory diseases. [ 16 , 17 ] We have assessed the role of DCE-MRI in diagnosis and assessment for CD, [ 18 ] such findings are similar to other researches. [ 19 – 21 ] In this paper, we present a preliminary study of CD by DCE-MRI and hypothesize that the parameters of DCE-MRI can be used to evaluate the therapeutic response.…”

Utilization of longitudinal ultrasound measurements to quantify changes in knee joint synovial vascularity in a rabbit model of rheumatoid arthritis

“…Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels, is an essential component of the pathogenesis of RA, because it facilitates the invasion of inflammatory cells and an increase in local pain receptors, thus contributing to structural damage and pain. Recent studies evaluated neovascularization during RA and changes in synovial blood flow after treatment using noninvasive imaging methods [2][3][4], but these methods are limited in their ability to detect low-speed blood flow and microvascular changes.…”

RACER‐GRASP: Respiratory‐weighted, aortic contrast enhancement‐guided and coil‐unstreaking golden‐angle radial sparse MRI

“…For example, Zhang et al developed a DCE‐MRI framework combining golden‐angle Cartesian sampling with respiratory motion‐weighted (i.e., soft‐gating) compressed‐sensing reconstruction for abdominal imaging in pediatric patients . Liu et al and Zhu et al also developed a similar imaging framework for DCE‐MRI of the wrist and the brain , respectively. For the second category, data are acquired using golden‐angle non‐Cartesian (often radial) trajectories.…”