Test-retest analysis of cerebral oxygen extraction estimates in healthy volunteers: comparison of methods based on quantitative susceptibility mapping and dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging

Ronnie Wirestam; Anna Lundberg; Arthur Chakwizira; Danielle van Westen; Linda Knutsson; Emelie Lind

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12364

Test-retest analysis of cerebral oxygen extraction estimates in healthy volunteers: comparison of methods based on quantitative susceptibility mapping and dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging

Heliyon. 2022 Dec 16;8(12):e12364. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12364. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Authors

Ronnie Wirestam¹, Anna Lundberg¹, Arthur Chakwizira¹, Danielle van Westen^{2

3}, Linda Knutsson^{1

4

5}, Emelie Lind¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Radiation Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
² Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
³ Image and Function, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
⁴ F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States.
⁵ Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.

Abstract

Background: Estimation of the oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) by quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is promising but requires systematic evaluation. Extraction of OEF-related information from the tissue residue function in dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI (DSC-MRI) has also been proposed. In this study, whole-brain OEF repeatability was investigated, as well as the relationships between QSM-based OEF and DSC-MRI-based parameters, i.e., mean transit time (MTT) and an oxygen extraction index, referred to as apparent OEF (AOEF).

Method: Test-retest data were obtained from 20 healthy volunteers at 3 T. QSM maps were reconstructed from 3D gradient-echo MRI phase data, using morphology-enabled dipole inversion. DSC-MRI was accomplished using gradient-echo MRI at a temporal resolution of 1.24 s.

Results: The whole-brain QSM-based OEF was (40.4±4.8) % and, in combination with a previously published cerebral blood flow (CBF) estimate, this corresponds to a cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen level of CMRO₂ = 3.36 ml O₂/min/100 g. The intra-class correlation coefficient [ICC(2,1)] for OEF test-retest data was 0.73. The MTT-versus-OEF and AOEF-versus-OEF relationships showed correlation coefficients of 0.61 (p = 0.004) and 0.52 (p = 0.019), respectively.

Discussion: QSM-based OEF showed a convincing absolute level and good test-retest results in terms of the ICC. Moderate to good correlations between QSM-based OEF and DSC-MRI-based parameters were observed. The present results constitute an indicator of the level of robustness that can be achieved without applying extraordinary resources in terms of MRI equipment, imaging protocol, QSM reconstruction, and OEF analysis.

Keywords: Cerebrovascular circulation; Contrast media; Hemodynamics; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetometry; Oxygen consumption.