Abstract #1966

Parhofer K, Reiser M, Glaser C, Friedrich D, Kramer H, Weckbach S

The purpose of this study was to implement a high-resolution protocol on a 3 T whole body scanner and evaluate the protocol in asymptomatic patients suffering from diabetes for more than ten years. 45 asymptomatic patients with type 1- or 2-diabetes lasting for more than ten years were examined on a 1.5 T or 3.0 T whole body MR system. Correlation to a group of 200 healthy adults of the same age range who received a whole body MRI for cardiovascular screening was performed. Compared to a healthy control group pathologies such as vascular stenoses, myocardial infactions and chronic-ischemic lesions of the brain were substantially more often found in the diabetes group than in the healthy control group. Due to the integration of several technical advances, whole body MRI with PAT, especially at 3T, is a highly promising method for comprehensive disease specific imaging since typical pathologies in diabetics can be identified with high spatial resolution and patients can potentially be treated earlier.