Helen Marshall1, Martin H. Deppe1,
Juan Parra Robles1, Steve R. Parnell1, Rob H. Ireland1,
David Capener1, Sue Hillis1, Smitha Rajaram1,
Catherine Billings2, David A. Lipson3, Rod Lawson2,
Jim M. Wild1
1Academic Radiology,
University of Sheffield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom; 2Respiratory
Medicine, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United
Kingdom; 3GlaxoSmithKline, King of Prussia, PA, United States
The combination of 3He ventilation and dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) 1H perfusion was investigated as a means to assess the matching of ventilation and perfusion (V/Q) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 3He ventilation, 1H DCE perfusion and anatomical 1H images were acquired from four COPD patients at 1.5T. Ventilated and perfused tissue volumes were calculated as a percentage of total lung volume. Regions of ventilation and perfusion were generally well matched but some areas of V/Q mismatch were also detected. These methods visualise regional V/Q distributions well, and may provide a means of quantitative therapy response evaluation in COPD.