Elan J. Grossman1, Ke Zhang1, Abe Voorhees2, Ken I. Berger3, R. M. Goldring3, J. Reibman3, J. Daugherty4, J. Xu4, Kelly Anne McGorty1, Qun Chen1
1Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, USA; 2Siemens Medical Solutions, Malvern, PA, USA; 3Department of Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, New York, USA; 4Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
In the current work we present preliminary results of the application of an MR tissue tracking technique for quantitative measurement of spatial distribution and severity of distal airway dysfunction. The goal is to develop a means for early detection of airways disease before any gross changes are observed in standard spirometric variables. In symptomatic patients with distal airway lung dysfunction, topographic mapping of regions with low FEV1/FVC revealed dysfunctional segments were predominately located in the periphery. Distal airway dysfunction as determined by MRI and IOS were tightly linked, confirming presence of distal airway disease that isnt apparent on standard testing.