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Review
. 2010 Feb;34(1):20-7.
doi: 10.1053/j.semperi.2009.10.003.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging of the newborn brain--a technical review

Affiliations
Review

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging of the newborn brain--a technical review

Duan Xu et al. Semin Perinatol. 2010 Feb.

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging has been widely used noninvasively for pediatric neuroimaging for more than a decade. More recently, with advances in computing, functional techniques for imaging water diffusion, cellular metabolite levels, and blood flow are becoming available. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (MRSI) offers a snapshot of the metabolic status in the tissue of interest. It is complementary to the more traditionally used anatomic imaging for diagnoses of various abnormalities. This review describes the physical basis of proton MRSI, summarizes currently available techniques and their applications, highlights challenges of performing MRSI in the pediatric population, and previews the newest techniques currently on the horizon.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A 1cc voxel selected from a 3D PRESS MRSI long TE 144ms acquisition of a 29-week gestational age preterm infant and a healthy adult volunteer. Note the relative size of the head size to that of the 1cc MRS voxel selection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Single voxel spectroscopy comparison between a TE 144ms (a) and TE 288ms (b) demonstrating modulation of lactate at 1.4ppm.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A slice of a 3D MRSI lactate editing acquisition of a newborn with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.
Figure 4
Figure 4
An anatomic image with colored overlay of NAA and Lac in red and green, respectively. This demonstrates the regional metabolic differences. In this HIE patient, there is widespread lactate buildup in the brain, demonstrated by the resultant orange color. Also, predominately green color in the ventricle is typical of lactate in the CSF.
Figure 5
Figure 5
MRSI processing flow chart. MRSI data is acquired, processed, and converted to metabolite images using various methods. Then the ROI comparisons are done to yield regional metabolic variations and abnormalities.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Metabolites at the basal ganglia level of a premature infant born at 24 weeks gestational age and imaged at 29 weeks of gestational age.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Figure 7a. Metabolites at the basal ganglia level of a premature newborn born at 27 weeks gestational age and imaged at 48 weeks of gestational age. Figure 7b. Metabolites at the level above the ventricles of same premature newborn in the previous figure. The white matter and cortical voxels demonstrate lower levels of NAA and Cho in comparison to the basal ganglia, which matures earlier.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Figure 7a. Metabolites at the basal ganglia level of a premature newborn born at 27 weeks gestational age and imaged at 48 weeks of gestational age. Figure 7b. Metabolites at the level above the ventricles of same premature newborn in the previous figure. The white matter and cortical voxels demonstrate lower levels of NAA and Cho in comparison to the basal ganglia, which matures earlier.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Typical metabolic profile of newborns with different degrees of HIE injury, demonstrating significant increases in lactate levels and associated decrease in NAA with increasing degree of injury.
Figure 9
Figure 9
NAA to Cho ratio comparison between subsequently deceased and normative newborn (neuromotor score of 0), showing significant higher NAA/Cho in normative newborns.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Lac to Cho ratio comparison between subsequently deceased and normative newborn (neuromotor score of 0), showing significant higher Lac/Cho in deceased newborns.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Lac to NAA ratio comparison between deceased and normative newborn (neuromotor score of 0), showing significant higher Lac/NAA in deceased newborns.

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