Inflammatory Atherosclerotic Plaque Can Be Reproducibly Assessed by 3T Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI for Multi-Center Studies

Huijun Chen¹, Jie Sun¹, William S. Kerwin¹, Niranjan Balu¹, Daniel S. Hippe¹, Daniel Isquith¹, Yunjing Xue¹, Suzanne Peck¹, Chun Yuan¹, Kevin O'Brien¹, Xue-Qiao Zhao¹

Inflammation plays an important role in both atherosclerotic plaque progression and rupture. Kinetic parameters derived from DCE-MRI (K^trans and v_p), has been proved to correspond with permeability and blood supply, which are related to inflammatory processes. However, the inter-scan reproducibility of these kinetic parameters in atherosclerotic plaque has not been investigated for multi-center studies, which is essential for prospective studies. In this study, we established the reproducibility of K^trans and v_p and analyzed the sample size needed to detect changes of these parameters, using 3T scanners in a multi-center design.