Influence of Oxygen Saturation and Age on Relaxation Time of Gray and White Matter and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Parameters in Children with Cardiac Malformations

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate the influence of reduced arterial oxygenation on cerebral gray and white matter T2* time and parameters of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in children with cardiac malformations. In 23 patients examined by magnetic resonance imaging (3T), parameters were correlated to oxygen saturation and age (regression analysis). Reduced oxygen saturation correlated significantly to gray matter T2* time (p???0.01), whereas fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, and radial diffusivity correlated to age (p???0.005) but not to oxygenation. To conclude, gray matter T2* time might be used as a surrogate parameter to estimate oxygenation, and oxygenation does not influence the evaluation of DTI parameters.

Developmental Alterations of Cerebral Gray and White Matter in Children with Congenital Cyanotic Heart Disease

“…As has been reported previously, we saw a strong correlation between SatO 2 and T2 star time of GM confirming our suggestion that the latter could be used as a surrogate parameter of cerebral oxygenation. 9 In this sense, reduced T2 star time indicates reduced oxygenation of the cerebral tissue in children with cyanotic cardiac malformation with known negative impact on the developing brain. We evaluated SatO 2 and T2 star time as factors strongly related to hypooxygenation of these children and looked on their influence on GM and WM development.…”

“…8 Recently, we reported a close relationship between peripheral oxygenation and T2 star values of cerebral GM in a group of children with TOF, concluding that this parameter might be used as a surrogate measure to estimate cerebral oxygenation. 9,10 This study was initiated to confirm the relationship between peripheral oxygenation and T2 star values of cerebral GM, and to look for correlations with structural MRI parameters related to impaired GM and WM maturation in these patients.…”