Abstract
Purpose: To compare a ‘standard’ slow phosphorus‐31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P‐MRS) sequence with two faster sequences in phantoms and healthy volunteers using a 1.5‐T clinical system.
Material and Methods: Complete 3D localization was performed using a 2D phosphorus chemical‐shift imaging sequence in combination with 30‐mm axial slice‐selective excitation. Two 31P‐MRS rapid sequences (RS8‐4: 8×8 phase‐encoding, with an average of 4 acquisitions, and RS16‐1: 16×16 phase‐encoding, 1 acquisition) were compared with the standard sequence (StdP: 16×16 phase‐encoding, with an average of 8 acquisitions) in phantom and healthy volunteers.
Results: Acquisition time for the 31P‐MRS procedure with StdP, RS8‐4, and RS16‐1 in the healthy volunteer studies ranged from 30 to 45, 3 to 5, and 3 to 5 minutes, respectively. Metabolite measurements of healthy volunteers obtained from 31P‐MRS using RS8‐4 correlated with values obtained using StdP (PCr r2=0.63, P<0.001; ATP r2=0.41, P<0.01 and PCr/ATP ratio r2=0.25, P<0.05). There was no correlation between StdP and RS16‐1 for either ATP or the PCr/ATP ratio (r2=0.03, P=0.60, and r2=0.11, p=0.26, respectively). Reproducibility (intensity of phosphorus signal) with RS16‐1 was worse than that of RS8‐4 or StdP.
Conclusion: 31P‐MRS using RS8‐4 may be a valid diagnostic tool for patients with cardiac diseases.