Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Lobar Analysis with Hyperpolarized Xe MR Imaging

Purpose To compare lobar ventilation and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values obtained with hyperpolarized xenon 129 (Xe) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to quantitative computed tomography (CT) metrics on a lobar basis and pulmonary function test (PFT) results on a whole-lung basis in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Materials and Methods The study was approved by the National Research Ethics Service Committee; written informed consent was obtained from all patients. Twenty-two patients with COPD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease stage II-IV) underwent hyperpolarized Xe MR imaging at 1.5 T, quantitative CT, and PFTs. Whole-lung and lobar Xe MR imaging parameters were obtained by using automated segmentation of multisection hyperpolarized Xe MR ventilation images and hyperpolarized Xe MR diffusion-weighted images after coregistration to CT scans. Whole-lung and lobar quantitative CT-derived metrics for emphysema and bronchial wall thickness were calculated. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the relationship between imaging measures and PFT results. Results Percentage ventilated volume and average ADC at lobar Xe MR imaging showed correlation with percentage emphysema at lobar quantitative CT (r = -0.32, P < .001 and r = 0.75, P < .0001, respectively). The average ADC at whole-lung Xe MR imaging showed moderate correlation with PFT results (percentage predicted transfer factor of the lung for carbon monoxide [Tlco]: r = -0.61, P < .005) and percentage predicted functional residual capacity (r = 0.47, P < .05). Whole-lung quantitative CT percentage emphysema also showed statistically significant correlation with percentage predicted Tlco (r = -0.65, P < .005). Conclusion Lobar ventilation and ADC values obtained from hyperpolarized Xe MR imaging demonstrated correlation with quantitative CT percentage emphysema on a lobar basis and with PFT results on a whole-lung basis. RSNA, 2016.