Quantitative assessment of gadolinium deposition in dentate nuclei with MR fingerprinting.

Rationale and Objectives: Gadolinium deposition in the dentate nucleus (DN) has been evaluated by T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) and T1 (R1) mapping, but not MR fingerprinting (MRF). This study investigated associations between T1 and T2 values of DN and gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) using 2-dimensional MRF.
Materials and Methods: This study included 101 patients. Region of interest analysis was performed for T1 and T2 values of DN on MRF (T1-MRF, T2-MRF) and T1-weighted images (T1WI ratio). T1 and T2 ratios compared to normal cerebellar white matter (T1-MRF ratio, T2-MRF ratio) were calculated. The type of previous GBCA was confirmed in 79 patients, and linear regressions were performed between T1, T2 values and number of GBCAs.
Results: Good correlations were observed between T1-MRF and T1WI ratio (ρ = -0.69, P < 0.001) and between T1-MRF ratio and T1WI ratio (ρ = -0.76, P < 0.001). Mild correlations were observed between T2-MRF and T1WI ratio (ρ = -0.32, P < 0.001) and between T2-MRF ratio and T1WI ratio (ρ = -0.44, P < 0.001). The number of linear-type GBCAs was associated with T1-MRF (β = -0.62, P < 0.001) and T1-MRF ratio (β = -0.54, P < 0.001) in univariate linear regression analyses, and with T1-MRF (β = -0.61, P < 0.001) and T1-MRF ratio (β = -0.53, P < 0.001) in multivariate analysis. The number of linear-type GBCAs was associated with T2-MRF (β = -0.30, P < 0.001) and T2-MRF ratio (β = -0.29, P < 0.001) in univariate analyses, and with T2-MRF (β = -0.31, P < 0.001) and T2-MRF ratio (β = -0.32, P < 0.001) in multivariate analyses. No associations were observed between number of macrocyclic GBCAs and T1-MRF (ratio) or T2-MRF (ratio).
Conclusion: The number of linear-type GBCA administrations was associated with lower T1 and T2 values (ratios) in DN.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Yasutaka Fushimi reports financial support was provided by JSPS Kakenhi JP21K15623, JP22K07746. Yuta Urushibata reports a relationship with Siemens Healthcare K. K., Japan. that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)