Comparison reveals significant differences in ventilation dynamics using perfluoropropane and hyperpolarized xenon, highlighting clinical implications.
Motivation: Imaging gas washout from the lungs using MRI (MBW MRI) is a promising tool for tracking treatment/understanding physiology. However, benefits/drawbacks of using hyperpolarized xenon versus perfluoropropane (PFP) gas remains unclear. Goal(s): To compare MBW PFP-MRI and MBW Xe-MRI for assessing regional ventilation dynamics in pediatric CF/healthy controls. Approach: MBW Xe- and/or PFP-MRI were performed same-day for 4 CF, 10 healthy children. Fractional ventilation (FV), coefficient of variation (CoVFV) and gravitational gradient were compared. Results: PFP yielded significantly lower FV, higher CoVFV compared to xenon in health. In disease, xenon yielded increased FV from health, while PFP had decreased FV in one preliminary participant. Impact: This work demonstrates how choice of contrast gas can influence MBW MRI. Understanding differences between MBW PFP- and Xe-MRI is important as PFP gains interest due to lower costs and improved clinical translatability for monitoring treatment progress compared to xenon.
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Alam et al. (2025) studied this question.
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