Volume Selective MRS of the Liver for Determination of Hepatic Lipids Is there a Need for Cardiac &/or Respiratory Triggering?

Jrgen Machann¹, Fritz Schick¹

¹H-MRS of the liver for quantification of hepatic lipid content has evolved to one of the most applied spectroscopic applications during the past years, as hepatic lipids are involved in metabolic diseases. However, as liver is a moving organ, spectral quality might be influenced by breathing and heartbeat. There is a discussion about the best acquisition strategy regarding different triggering modalities (ECG-triggering, respiratory triggering and combination of both). This study on 5 volunteers depicts differences in spectral quality and acquisition times for all combinations of triggering. Best results regarding quality and acquisition time are achieved when subjects breathe flatly during the TR interval and are in expiration during data acquisition.