Whole-body MRI: comprehensive evaluation on a 48-channel 3T MRI system in less than 40 minutes. Preliminary results

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a comprehensive MRI protocol that investigates for cancer, vascular disease, and degenerative/inflammatory disease from the head to the pelvis in less than 40 minutes on a new generation 48-channel 3T system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All MR studies were performed on a 48-channel 3T MR scanner. A 20-channel head/neck coil, two 18-channel body arrays, and a 32-channel spine array were employed. A total of 4 healthy individuals were studied. The designed protocol included a combination of single-shot T2-weighted sequences, T1-weighted 3D gradient-echo pre- and post-gadolinium. All images were retrospectively evaluated by two radiologists independently for overall image quality. RESULTS: The image quality for cancer was rated as excellent in the liver, pancreas, kidneys, lungs, pelvic organs, and brain, and rated as fair in the colon and breast. For vascular diseases ratings were excellent in the aorta, major branch vessel origins, inferior vena cava, portal and hepatic veins, rated as good in pulmonary arteries, and as poor in the coronary arteries. For degenerative/inflammatory diseases ratings were excellent in the brain, liver and pancreas. The inter-observer agreement was excellent. CONCLUSION: A comprehensive and time efficient screening for important categories of disease processes may be achieved with high quality imaging in a new generation 48-channel 3T system.

Serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophicfactor correlate with the number of T2 MRI lesions in multiple sclerosis

The objective of the present study was to determine if there is a relationship between serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and the number of T2/fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (T2/FLAIR) lesions in multiple sclerosis (MS). The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revolutionized the study of MS. However, MRI has limitations and the use of other biomarkers such as BDNF may be useful for the clinical assessment and the study of the disease. Serum was obtained from 28 MS patients, 18-50 years old (median 38), 21 women, 0.5-10 years (median 5) of disease duration, EDSS 1-4 (median 1.5) and 28 healthy controls, 19-49 years old (median 33), 19 women. BDNF levels were measured by ELISA. T1, T2/FLAIR and gadolinium-enhanced lesions were measured by a trained radiologist. BDNF was reduced in MS patients (median [range] pg/mL; 1160 [352.6-2640]) compared to healthy controls (1640 [632.4-4268]; P = 0.03, Mann-Whitney test) and was negatively correlated (Spearman correlation test, r = -0.41; P = 0.02) with T2/FLAIR (11-81 lesions, median 42). We found that serum BDNF levels were inversely correlated with the number of T2/FLAIR lesions in patients with MS. BDNF may be a promising biomarker of MS.