Comparison of breath-hold and free-breathing quantitative pulmonary perfusion MRI

Purpose: Assessing pulmonary perfusion using dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI is still limited in clinical routine due to the necessity of breath-holding. In our study, an acquisition technique for the quantitative assessment of pulmonary perfusion in free breathing was investigated. Material and Methods: 10 healthy volunteers underwent DCE-MRI on a 1.5 T scanner for the assessment of pulmonary perfusion. Each volunteer was examined twice, once with the instruction to hold his breath during half expiration as long as possible and continue with shallow breathing; the second time during shallow free breathing.…