Abstract #4058

Breath Holding Has No Effect on BOLD Signal in the Kidney

Marla Shaver¹, Michael Noseworthy²,³

¹School of Biomedical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; ²School of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; ³Imaging Research Centre, St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

In this study we used real-time BOLD imaging to investigate whether breath holding can play a significant role in modulating kidney microvasculature. Images were acquired using a T2* weighted GRE EPI sequence. Subjects were instructed to hold their breath, breath when necessary and repeat for the duration of the scan. Data from regions of interest for the renal cortex and medulla were analyzed to identify any trends in the data. No consistent trends were found and it was concluded that breath holding during the acquisition of renal BOLD MRI does not have an effect on the data.