3D high-resolution imaging of 2-hydroxyglutarate in glioma patients using DRAG-EPSI at 3T in vivo

Abstract

Purpose: To develop 3D high-resolution imaging of 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) at 3T in vivo.

Methods: Echo-planar spectroscopic imaging with dual-readout alternated-gradients (DRAG-EPSI), which was recently reported for 2D imaging of 2HG at 7T, was tested for 3D imaging of 2HG at 3T. The frequency drifts and acoustic noise induced by DRAG-EPSI were investigated in comparison with conventional EPSI. Four patients with IDH-mutant gliomas were enrolled for 3D imaging of 2HG and other metabolites. A previously reported 2HG-tailored TE 97-ms PRESS sequence preceded the DRAG-EPSI readout gradients. Unsuppressed water, acquired with EPSI, was used as reference for multi-channel combination, eddy-current compensation, and metabolite quantification. Spectral fitting was conducted with the LCModel using in-house basis sets.

Results: With gradient strength of 4 mT/m and slew rate of 20 mT/m/ms, DRAG-EPSI produced frequency drifts smaller by 5.5-fold and acoustic noise lower by 25 dB compared to conventional EPSI. In a 19-min scan, 3D DRAG-EPSI provided images of 2HG with precision (CRLB <10%) at a resolution of 10 × 10 × 10 mm³ for a field of view of 240 × 180 × 80 mm³ . 2HG was estimated to be 5 mM in a pre-treatment patient. In 3 post-surgery patients, 2HG estimates were 3-6 mM, and the 2HG distribution was different from the water-T₂ image pattern or highly concentrated in the post-contrast enhancing region.

Conclusion: Together with 2HG-optimized PRESS, DRAG-EPSI provides an effective tool for reliable 3D high-resolution imaging of 2HG at 3T in vivo.

Keywords: 1H MRS; 2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG); 3T; dual-readout alternated-gradients EPSI (DRAG-EPSI); echo-planar spectroscopy imaging (EPSI); glioma; human brain tumor.