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The question of optimal timing for catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation (AF) to achieve best outcomes remains a crucial clinical issue. As AF occurs less frequently in younger patients, data regarding Diagnosis-to-Ablation Time (DAT) is especially limited in patients under the age of 55 years with persistent AF. We therefore analyzed the temporal relationship between initial AF presentation and timing of catheter ablation in this cohort. We conducted a retrospective single-centre study of patients ≤ 55 years with persistent AF who underwent first-time catheter ablation at our center. The cohort was divided into patients that underwent catheter ablation after diagnosis of persistent AF within a DAT of ≤ 12 months and patients with a DAT of > 12 months. A total of 101 patients (median age 51 years; female n = 19 (18.8%)) with persistent AF were included. Ablation was performed within 12 months ("early DAT") in 51 patients and > 12 months ("late DAT") in 50 patients. Pulmonary vein isolation was performed using high-power short-duration (HPSD) radiofrequency ablation. Median DAT was 5 months (1-12 months) in the early ablation group and 36 months (13-240 months) in the late ablation group. The median follow-up was 11.3 months (0.03-37.1 months). The rate of any atrial arrhythmia recurrence after a 30-day blanking period was significantly lower in the early DAT group (13/51 patients; 25.5%) as compared to the late DAT group (26/50 patients; 52.0%) (log rank test; p = 0.003). Catheter ablation performed > 12 months after the initial AF diagnosis was an independent predictor for the occurrence of any atrial arrythmia (OR: 2.58; (95%-CI: 1.32-5.07). Early first-time catheter ablation (DAT ≤ 12 months) in patients ≤ 55 years with persistent AF is associated with a significantly lower rate of arrhythmia recurrence., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Lesion durability and transmurality are crucial for successful radiofrequency (RF) ablation. This study provides a model of real-time RF lesion visualization and insights into the role of underlying parameters, as local impedance (LI)., Methods: A force-sensing, LI-sensing catheter was used for lesion creation in an ex vivo model involving cross-sections of porcine cardiac preparations. During 60 s of RF application, one measurement per second was performed regarding lesion size and available ablation parameters. In total, 1847 measurements from n = 36 lesions were performed. Power (20-50 W) and contact force (1-5 g, 10-15 g, 20-25 g) were systematically alternated., Results: Lesion formation was most prominent in the first seconds of RF application during which nonlinear lesion growth was observed (max. 1.08 mm/s for lesion depth and 2.71 mm/s for lesion diameter). Power levels determined the extent of lesion formation in the early phase. After 20 s, lesion size growth velocity approaches 0.1 mm/s at all power levels. LI changes were also highest in the first seconds (up to - 12 Ω/s) and decreased to less than - 0.1Ω/s after prolonged application., Conclusion: Lesion formation in irrigated RF ablation is a nonlinear process. Final lesion size resulting from an RF application is mainly influenced by high rates of lesion growth in the first seconds of ablation. LI seems to be a good surrogate for differentiating changes in lesion formation., (© 2024 The Authors. Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Pulsed field ablation (PFA) has become increasingly important in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. In addition to single-shot devices mainly used for pulmonary vein isolation, focal PFA may provide a treatment option that increases the versatility of the technique., Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide data on feasibility, safety, and long-term outcome of focal PFA for ablation of complex atrial tachycardia (AT)., Methods: All consecutive patients (n = 34) with complex AT treated at our department between 2022 and 2023 with a focal PFA system (CENTAURI™, Galvanize Therapeutics) were included. The majority of patients (32/34) previously had undergone at least 1 radiofrequency ablation. Established contact force-sensing catheters were used for PFA application in combination with a PFA generator. Pulsed electric field trains were conducted in a R-wave triggered manner., Results: Acute procedural success was accomplished in all patients. PFA included creation of 51 linear lesions and (re)isolation of 12 pulmonary veins. Mean procedural duration was 102.7 ± 30.3 minutes, with left atrial dwell time of 75.0 ± 24.7 minutes. Mean fluoroscopy duration was 8.7 ± 5.3 minutes. No complications occurred. After mean follow-up of 340.9 ± 130.1 days, recurrence of any AT occurred in 15 patients (44.1%). During 9 reablations, 3 gaps in previously created linear lesions were detected; the majority of recurrences (n = 6) were not related to previous PFA lesion creation., Conclusion: Focal PFA of complex AT substrates was safe and efficient. Acute procedural success was 100%. After 1 year, the majority of patients were in sinus rhythm. A minority of recurrences was caused by insufficient PFA lesion creation., Competing Interests: Disclosures Dr Bahlke participates in an educational program of Boston Scientific. Dr Erhard received travel grants from Boston Scientific and Biosense Webster. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Heart Rhythm Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Despite advanced ablation strategies and major technological improvements, treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation (AF) remains challenging and the underlying pathophysiology is not fully understood. This study analyzed the multiple procedure outcome and safety of catheter ablation of spatiotemporal dispersions (DISPERS) detected by artificial intelligence (AI)-guided software in patients with long-standing persistent AF., Methods and Results: The Volta VX1 software was used for 50 consecutive patients undergoing catheter ablation for persistent AF. First, high-density mapping (78% biatrial) with a multipolar mapping catheter was performed. In addition to pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), ablation of DISPERS was performed aiming at homogenizing, dissecting, isolating, or connecting DISPERS areas to nonconducting anatomical structures. Follow-up contained regular visits at our outpatient clinic at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months including 7-day Holter electrocardiograms. Patients were mainly suffering from long-standing persistent AF (mean AF duration 50.30 ± 54.28 months). Following PVI, ablation of left atrial and right atrial DISPERS areas led to AF cycle length prolongation (mean of 162.0 ± 16.6 to 202.2 ± 21.6 ms after) and AF termination to atrial tachycardia (AT) or sinus rhythm (SR) in 12 patients (24%). No stroke or pericardial effusion occurred; major groin complications (pseudoaneurysm n = 1, atrioventricular fistula n = 1) were detected in two patients. After a blanking period of 6 weeks, recurrence of any atrial arrhythmia was documented in 26 patients (52%). The majority of patients presented with organized AT (n = 15) while AF was present in n = 9 patients and AT/AF was observed in n = 2 patients. Twenty-two patients underwent reablation. During a mean follow-up of 363.14 ± 187.42 days and after an average of 1.46 ± 0.68 procedures, 82% of patients remained in stable SR., Conclusion: DISPERS-guided ablation using machine learning software (the Volta VX1 software) in addition to PVI in long-standing persistent AF ablation resulted in high long-term success rates regarding AF and AT elimination. Most arrhythmia recurrences were reentrant AT. After a total of 1.46 ± 0.68 procedures, freedom from AF/AT was 82%. Despite prolonged procedure times complication rates were low. Randomized studies are necessary to evaluate long-term efficacy of dispersion-guided ablation using AI., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Data regarding uninterrupted oral anticoagulation in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) during catheter ablation for left atrial arrhythmias is limited. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of periprocedural uninterrupted direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) compared with uninterrupted phenprocoumon in patients with CKD undergoing left atrial catheter ablation., Methods and Results: We conducted a retrospective single-center study of patients who underwent left atrial catheter ablation between 2016 and 2019 with underlying chronic kidney disease (glomerular filtration rate (GFR) between 15 and 45 ml/min). The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC) therapy or warfarin presents a superior safety profile in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) undergoing left atrial catheter ablation. We compared periprocedural complications (arteriovenous fistula, aneurysm, significant hematoma (> 5 cm)) and/or bleeding (drop in hemoglobin of >2 g/dl, pericardial effusion, retroperitoneal bleeding, other bleeding, stroke) between patients receiving either uninterrupted DOAC or warfarin therapy. Secondary analysis included patient baseline characteristics as well as procedural data. A total of 188 patients (female n = 108 (57%), mean age 75.3 ± 8.1 years, mean GFR 36.8 ± 6 ml/min) were included in this study. Underlying arrhythmias were atrial fibrillation (n = 104, 55.3%) and atypical atrial flutter (n = 84, 44.7%). Of these, n = 132 patients (70%) were under a DOAC medication, and n = 56 (30%) were under phenprocoumon. Major groin complications including pseudoaneurysm and/or AV fistula occurred in 8.9% of patients in the phenprocoumon group vs. 11.3% of patients in the DOAC group, which was not statistically significant (p = 0.62). Incidence of cardiac tamponade (2.3% vs. 0%; p = 0.55) and stroke (0% vs. 0%) were low in both DOAC and phenprocoumon groups with similar post-procedural drops in hemoglobin levels (1.1±1 g/dl vs 1.1±0.9 g/dl; p = 0.71)., Conclusion: The type of anticoagulation had no significant influence on bleeding or thromboembolic events as well as groin complications in this retrospective study. Despite observing an increased rate of groin complications, the uninterrupted use of DOAC or phenprocoumon during left atrial catheter ablation in patients with CKD appears to be feasible and effective., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.)

Background: To study the spatial heterogeneity of liver fat fraction changes during a long-term lifestyle intervention study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)., Methods: Thirty-two subjects underwent two MRI-scans in a span of one year. A chemical shift encoding-based water-fat separation method was applied to measure liver proton density fat fraction (PDFF) maps. The PDFF changes in the two liver lobes and the Couinaud segments were compared with the mean liver PDFF change., Results: The slope of the relationship between mean liver PDFF changes and PDFF liver lobe changes was higher in the right compared to the left lobe (slope mean PDFF whole liver ~ mean PDFF right lobe =1.08, slope mean PDFF whole liver ~ mean PDFF left lobe =0.93, P<0.001). The highest slope of agreement between PDFF changes in each specific liver segment and mean liver PDFF changes was observed in segment VII (slope =1.12). The lowest slope of agreement between PDFF changes in each specific liver segment and mean liver PDFF changes was observed in segment I (slope =0.77)., Conclusions: Larger PDFF changes in the right liver lobe were observed compared to PDFF changes in the left liver lobe (LLL) in subjects with both increasing and decreasing mean liver PDFF after one year. The results are in line with the existing literature reporting a heterogeneous spatial distribution of liver fat and highlight the need to spatially resolve liver fat fraction changes in longitudinal studies., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/qims-20-873). Dr. HH reports grants from German Ministry of Education and Research, during the conduct of the study; Dr. DCK reports grants from European Research Council, grants from Philips Healthcare, during the conduct of the study; Dr. DCK reports grants from European Research Council (No. 677661), grants from Philips Healthcare, grants from German Research Foundation (DFG-SFB824/A9), during the conduct of the study; grants from Philips Healthcare, outside the submitted work. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2021 Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To define a metric for the separability between water and olefinic fat peaks that defines a threshold beyond which the extraction of the olefinic fat peak from vertebral bone marrow short-echo time-stimulated echo acquisition mode MRS at 3T is feasible when using a constrained peak fitting based on the triglyceride fat model., Methods: The water and olefinic peak height difference was defined as a metric for quantifying the separability of water and olefinic fat peaks. Fat unsaturation was determined using an unconstrained olefinic peak fitting and a constrained fitting of all fat peaks to the triglyceride model. The agreement between the two peak-fitting methods was used to define a threshold on water and olefinic peak height difference separating two groups (A and B), based on L5 short-echo time-stimulated echo acquisition mode (TE = 11 ms) spectra from 252 subjects measured at 3T., Results: A threshold on water and olefinic peak height difference was defined. Group A with a good agreement of the olefinic fat peak between the two peak-fitting methods showed a mean number of double bounds = 2.95 ± 0.21, a mean number of methylene-interrupted double bounds = 0.94 ± 0.16 and also a significantly lower coefficient of variation for all fatty acid composition parameters compared to group B (p < .001). The water and olefinic peak height difference value showed an inverse association with fat fraction., Conclusion: A threshold of a metric quantifying the separability of the water peak and the olefinic fat peaks was defined for the estimation of the vertebral bone marrow fat unsaturation from short-echo time-stimulated echo acquisition mode MRS. The proposed methodology shows that the assessment of vertebral bone marrow unsaturation is feasible with a short-echo time-stimulated echo acquisition mode MRS in subjects with a higher fat fraction., (© 2020 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

The aim of this study was to investigate physiological variations of the water T2 relaxation time in vertebral bone marrow with respect to age, body mass index (BMI), sex and proton density fat fraction (PDFF) based on single-voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 3 T. Multi-TE single-voxel STEAM MRS data of a single lumbar vertebra (L4 or L5) from 260 subjects (160/100 female/male, age: 0.7/37.1/77.7 years, BMI: 13.6/26.2/44.5 kg/m 2 [min./median/max.]) with no history of vertebral bone marrow pathologies were retrospectively included. All data were processed using a joint series T2-constrained time domain-based water-fat model. Water T2 and PDFF data were analyzed using (a) Pearson's correlation r and (b) multiple linear regression without interactions of the independent variables. Min./median/max. water T2 and PDFF were 11.2/21.1/42.5 ms and 4.0%/36.8%/82.0%, respectively. Pearson's correlation coefficients were significant (P < .05) for water T2 versus age (r = -0.429/-0.210 female/male) and for water T2 versus PDFF (r = -0.580/-0.546 female/male) for females and males, respectively. Females showed significant higher water T2 values compared with males (P < .001). Multiple linear regression for water T2 without interactions revealed a R 2 = 0.407 with PDFF (P < .001) and sex (P < .001) as significant predictors. The current study suggests that under physiological conditions vertebral bone marrow water T2 is negatively correlated with age and PDFF and shows significant differences between females and males. The observed systematic trends are of relevance for the evaluation of T2 values and T2-weighted bone marrow parameters. Further research on the exact mechanisms and drivers of the observed water T2 behavior is required., (© 2020 The Authors. NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This analysis investigated the age- and BMI-related variations of fat distribution in sacral and lumbar bone marrow and their association with local muscle fat content in order to detect fat distribution patterns and variations in healthy adults using proton density fat fraction (PDFF) measurements. A six-echo 3D spoiled gradient-echo sequence was used for chemical shift encoding-based water-fat separation at the sacral and lower lumbar region in 103 healthy volunteers. PDFF values of the sacrum, 5 th lumbar vertebral body, the gluteal and paraspinal muscles were determined. Correlation with age was significant (p < 0.05) for PDFF of the sacrum (men (m): r = 0.58; women (w): r = 0.54), L5 (m: r = 0.58; w: r = 0.54), the gluteal (m: r = 0.51; w: r = 0.44) and paraspinal (m: r = 0.36; w: r = 0.49) muscles in both genders. BMI correlated significantly with the paraspinal musculature in men (r = 0.46) and women (r = 0.33). Correlation testing revealed significant correlations (p < 0.05) between the two osseous (m: r = 0.63, w: r = 0.75) and the muscle compartments (m: r = 0.63, w: r = 0.33) in both genders. Bone marrow and muscle fat infiltration patterns were not significantly associated with each other at the sacral and lower lumbar spine region. The presented data suggest that the two compartments may have distinct pathophysiological fat infiltration patterns. However, further clinical studies are needed to support the results.

Background: Paraspinal musculature forms one of the largest muscle compartments of the human body, but evidence for regional variation of its composition and dependency on gender or body mass index (BMI) is scarce., Methods: This study applied six-echo chemical shift encoding-based water-fat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 Tesla in 76 subjects (24 males and 52 females, age: 40.0±13.7 years, BMI: 25.4±5.6 kg/m 2 ) to evaluate the proton density fat fraction (PDFF) of psoas muscles and erector spinae muscles, with the latter being divided into three segments in relation to levels of spine anatomy (L3-L5, T12-L2, and T9-T11)., Results: For the psoas muscles and the erector spinae muscles (L3-L5), gender differences in PDFF values were observed (PDFF psoas muscles: males: 5.1%±3.4% vs . females: 6.0%±2.2%, P=0.006; PDFF erector spinae muscles L3-L5: males: 10.7%±7.6% vs . females: 18.2%±6.8%, P<0.001). Furthermore, the PDFF of the erector spinae muscles (L3-L5) showed higher PDFF values when compared to the other segments (PDFF erector spinae muscles L3-L5 vs . T12-L2: P<0.001; PDFF erector spinae muscles L3-L5 vs . T9-T11: P<0.001) and showed to be independent of BMI, which was not the case for the other segments (T12-L2 or T9-T11) or the psoas muscles. When considering age and BMI as control variables, correlations of PDFF between segments of the erector spinae muscles remained significant for both genders., Conclusions: This study explored regional variation of paraspinal muscle composition and dependency on gender and BMI, thus offering new insights into muscle physiology. The PDFF of the erector spinae muscles (L3-L5) was independent of BMI, suggesting that this level may be suited for representative paraspinal muscle segmentation and PDFF extraction as a biomarker for muscle alterations in the future., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2020 Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Brown adipose tissue (BAT) plays a potential role in energy and glucose metabolism in humans. Thyroid hormones (TH) are main regulators of BAT development and function. However, it remains unknown how the magnetic resonance (MR)-based proton density fat fraction (PDFF) of supraclavicular adipose tissue used as a surrogate marker for BAT presence relates to TH. Therefore, the purpose of this analysis was to investigate the relationship between supraclavicular PDFF and serum levels of TH., Methods: In total, 96 adult volunteers from a large cross-sectional study who underwent additional MR examination of the neck and pelvis were included in this analysis. Segmented PDFF maps of the supraclavicular and gluteal subcutaneous adipose tissue were generated. Delta PDFF was calculated as the difference between gluteal and supraclavicular PDFF and grouped as high (≥12%) or low (<12%) based on the median and the clinical rationale of a high versus low probability of BAT being present. Thyroid-stimulating hormone (mIU/L), free triiodothyronine (FT3, pg/mL) and free thyroxine (FT4, ng/dL) levels were determined in blood samples. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight (kg)/height (m)2. Statistical analyses included the use of paired samples ttest, simple linear regression analysis and a multivariable linear regression analysis., Results: The median age of the subjects (77% female) was 33 years, BMI ranged from 17.2 to 43.1 kg/m2. Supraclavicular and gluteal PDFF differed significantly (76.5 ± 4.8 vs. 89.4 ± 3.5 %, p < 0.01). Supraclavicular PDFF was associated with FT3 in subjects with high delta PDFF (R2 = 0.17, p < 0.01), with higher FT3 being associated with lower supraclavicular PDFF (y = 85.2 + -3.6 x). In a multivariable linear regression analysis considering further potential prognostic factors, the interaction between the delta PDFF group and FT3 remained a predictor for supraclavicular PDFF (B = -4.65, p < 0.01)., Discussion/conclusions: Supraclavicular PDFF corresponds to the presence of BAT. In the present analysis, supraclavicular PDFF is correlated with FT3 in subjects with high delta PDFF. Therefore, the present findings suggest that biologically active T3 may be involved in the development of supraclavicular BAT., (© 2020 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background: Quantification of vertebral bone marrow (VBM) water-fat composition has been proposed as advanced imaging biomarker for osteoporosis. Estrogen deficiency is the primary reason for trabecular bone loss in postmenopausal women. By reducing estrogen levels aromatase inhibitors (AI) as part of breast cancer therapy promote bone loss. Bisphosphonates (BP) are recommended to counteract this adverse drug effect. The purpose of our study was to quantify VBM proton density fat fraction (PDFF) changes at the lumbar spine using chemical shift encoding-based water-fat MRI (CSE-MRI) and bone mineral density (BMD) changes using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) related to AI and BP treatment over a 12-month period., Methods: Twenty seven postmenopausal breast cancer patients receiving AI therapy were recruited for this study. 22 subjects completed the 12-month study. 14 subjects received AI and BP (AI+BP), 8 subjects received AI without BP (AI-BP). All subjects underwent 3 T MRI. An eight-echo 3D spoiled gradient-echo sequence was used for CSE-based water-fat separation at the lumbar spine to generate PDFF maps. After manual segmentation of the vertebral bodies L1-L5 PDFF values were extracted for each vertebra and averaged for each subject. All subjects underwent DXA of the lumbar spine measuring the average BMD of L1-L4., Results: Baseline age, PDFF and BMD showed no significant difference between the two groups (p > 0.05). There was a relative longitudinal increase in mean PDFF (∆rel PDFF ) in both groups (AI+BP: 5.93%; AI-BP: 3.11%) which was only significant (p = 0.006) in the AI+BP group. ∆rel PDFF showed no significant difference between the two groups (p > 0.05). There was no significant longitudinal change in BMD (p > 0.05)., Conclusions: Over a 12-month period, VBM PDFF assessed with CSE-MRI significantly increased in subjects receiving AI and BP. The present results contradict previous results regarding the effect of only BP therapy on bone marrow fat content quantified by magnetic resonance spectroscopy and bone biopsies. Future longer-term follow-up studies are needed to further characterize the effects of combined AI and BP therapy.

Background: Adipose tissue (AT) can be classified into white and brown/beige subtypes. Chemical shift encoding-based water-fat MRI-techniques allowing simultaneous mapping of proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and T 2 * result in a lower PDFF and a shorter T 2 * in brown compared with white AT. However, AT T 2 * values vary widely in the literature and are primarily based on 6-echo data. Increasing the number of echoes in a multiecho gradient-echo acquisition is expected to increase the precision of AT T 2 * mapping., Purpose: 1) To mitigate issues of current T 2 *-measurement techniques through experimental design, and 2) to investigate gluteal and supraclavicular AT T 2 * and PDFF and their relationship using a 20-echo gradient-echo acquisition., Study Type: Prospective., Subjects: Twenty-one healthy subjects., Field Strength/sequence Assessment: First, a ground truth signal evolution was simulated from a single-T 2 * water-fat model. Second, a time-interleaved 20-echo gradient-echo sequence with monopolar gradients of neck and abdomen/pelvis at 3 T was performed in vivo to determine supraclavicular and gluteal PDFF and T 2 *. Complex-based water-fat separation was performed for the first 6 echoes and the full 20 echoes. AT depots were segmented., Statistical Tests: Mann-Whitney test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test and simple linear regression analysis., Results: Both PDFF and T 2 * differed significantly between supraclavicular and gluteal AT with 6 and 20 echoes (PDFF: P < 0.0001 each, T 2 *: P = 0.03 / P < 0.0001 for 6/20 echoes). 6-echo T 2 * demonstrated higher standard deviations and broader ranges than 20-echo T 2 *. Regression analyses revealed a strong relationship between PDFF and T 2 * values per AT compartment (R 2 = 0.63 supraclavicular, R 2 = 0.86 gluteal, P < 0.0001 each)., Data Conclusion: The present findings suggest that an increase in the number of sampled echoes beyond 6 does not affect AT PDFF quantification, whereas AT T 2 * is considerably affected. Thus, a 20-echo gradient-echo acquisition enables a multiparametric analysis of both AT PDFF and T 2 * and may therefore improve MR-based differentiation between white and brown fat., Level of Evidence: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:424-434., (© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the modality of choice for diagnosing and monitoring muscular tissue pathologies and bone marrow alterations in the context of lower back pain, neuromuscular diseases and osteoporosis. Chemical shift encoding-based water-fat MRI allows for reliable determination of proton density fat fraction (PDFF) of the muscle and bone marrow. Prior to quantitative data extraction, segmentation of the examined structures is needed. Performed manually, the segmentation process is time consuming and therefore limiting the clinical applicability. Thus, the development of automated segmentation algorithms is an ongoing research focus., Construction and Content: This database provides ground truth data which may help to develop and test automatic lumbar muscle and vertebra segmentation algorithms. Lumbar muscle groups and vertebral bodies (L1 to L5) were manually segmented in chemical shift encoding-based water-fat MRI and made publically available in the database MyoSegmenTUM. The database consists of water, fat and PDFF images with corresponding segmentation masks for lumbar muscle groups (right/left erector spinae and psoas muscles, respectively) and lumbar vertebral bodies 1-5 of 54 healthy Caucasian subjects. The database is freely accessible online at https://osf.io/3j54b/?view&#95;only=f5089274d4a449cda2fef1d2df0ecc56 ., Conclusion: A development and testing of segmentation algorithms based on this database may allow the use of quantitative MRI in clinical routine.

Ageing, sarcopenia, and malnutrition are associated with quantitative and qualitative changes of body composition. There are several imaging modalities, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), for the assessment of trunk muscle tissue composition. In this study, we investigated the gender- and age-related changes in trunk muscle composition using chemical shift encoding-based water⁻fat MRI. A total of 79 healthy volunteers (26 men: 38.9 ± 10.4 years; 53 women: 39.5 ± 15.0 years) underwent 3T axial MRI using a six-echo multi-echo 3D spoiled gradient echo sequence, allowing for the calculation of the proton density fat fraction (PDFF) in the trunk muscles. PDFF of the abdominal, psoas, and erector spinae muscles were determined. We detected significant positive correlations for abdominal muscle PDFF with age ( r = 0.638, p = 0.0001) in men, and for abdominal muscle PDFF ( r = 0.709, p = 0.0001) and erector spinae muscle PDFF ( r = 0.674, p = 0.0001) with age in women. After adjustment for body mass index (BMI), only the correlation of age and abdominal muscle PDFF in women remained significant ( r = 0.631, p = 0.0001). The findings of this study suggest that an increasing fat deposition in muscle is driven primarily by age, rather than BMI, in women. These results further support that PDFF can be considered a valid imaging biomarker of trunk muscle composition.

Background:  Adipose tissue has become an increasingly important tissue target in medicine. It plays a central role in the storage and release of energy throughout the human body and has recently gained interest for its endocrinologic function. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an established method for quantitative direct evaluation of adipose tissue distribution, and is used increasingly as the modality of choice for metabolic phenotyping. The purpose of this review was the identification and presentation of the currently available literature on MRI of adipose tissue in metabolic dysfunction., Method:  A PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) keyword search up to August 2017 without starting date limitation was performed and reference lists of relevant articles were searched., Results and Conclusion:  MRI provides excellent tools for the evaluation of adipose tissue distribution and further characterization of the tissue. Standard as well as newly developed MRI techniques allow a risk stratification for the development of metabolic dysfunction and enable monitoring without the use of ionizing radiation or contrast material., Key Points:   · Different types of adipose tissue play a crucial role in various types of metabolic dysfunction.. · Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an excellent tool for noninvasive adipose tissue evaluation with respect to distribution, composition and metabolic activity.. · Both standard and newly developed MRI techniques can be used for risk stratification for the development of metabolic dysfunction and allow monitoring without the use of ionizing radiation or contrast material.., Citation Format: · Franz D, Syväri J, Weidlich D et al. Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Adipose Tissue in Metabolic Dysfunction. Fortschr Röntgenstr 2018; 190: 1121 - 1130., Competing Interests: Dimitrios C. Karampinos receives grant support from Philips Healthcare., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Assessment of vertebral bone marrow composition has been proposed as imaging biomarker for osteoporosis, hematopoietic, and metabolic disorders. We investigated the anatomical variation of age-related changes of vertebral proton density fat fraction (PDFF) using chemical shift encoding-based water-fat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 156 healthy subjects were recruited (age range 20-29 years: 12/30 males/females; 30-39: 15/9; 40-49: 4/14; 50-59: 9/27; 60-69: 5/19; 70-79: 4/8). An eight-echo 3D spoiled gradient-echo sequence at 3T MRI was used for chemical shift-encoding based water-fat separation at the lumbar spine. Vertebral bodies of L1-L4 were manually segmented to extract PDFF values at each vertebral level. PDFF averaged over L1-L4 was significantly ( p  < 0.05) higher in males than females in the twenties (32.0 ± 8.0 vs. 27.2 ± 6.0%) and thirties (35.3 ± 6.7 vs. 27.3 ± 6.2%). With increasing age, females showed an accelerated fatty conversion of the bone marrow compared to men with no significant ( p  > 0.05) mean PDFF differences in the forties (32.4 ± 8.4 vs. 34.5 ± 6.8%) and fifties (42.0 ± 6.1 vs. 40.5 ± 9.7%). The accelerated conversion process continued resulting in greater mean PDFF values in females than males in the sixties (40.2 ± 6.9 vs. 48.8 ± 7.7%; p  = 0.033) and seventies (43.9 ± 7.6 vs. 50.5 ± 8.2%; p  = 0.208), though the latter did not reach statistical significance. Relative age-related PDFF change from the twenties to the seventies increased from 16.7% (L1) to 51.4% (L4) in males and 76.8% (L1) to 85.7% (L4) in females. An accelerated fatty conversion of bone marrow was observed in females with increasing age particularly evident after menopause. Relative age-related PDFF changes showed an anatomical variation with most pronounced changes at lower lumbar vertebral levels in both sexes.