Relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) obtained from dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI is adversely impacted by contrast agent leakage in brain tumors. Using simulations, we previously demonstrated that multi-echo DSC-MRI protocols provide improvements in contrast agent dosing, pulse sequence flexibility, and rCBV accuracy. The purpose of this study is to assess the in-vivo performance of dual-echo acquisitions in patients with brain tumors (n = 59). To verify pulse sequence flexibility, four single-dose dual-echo acquisitions were tested with variations in contrast agent dose, flip angle, and repetition time, and the resulting dual-echo rCBV was compared to standard single-echo rCBV obtained with preload (double-dose). Dual-echo rCBV was comparable to standard double-dose single-echo protocols (mean (standard deviation) tumor rCBV 2.17 (1.28) vs. 2.06 (1.20), respectively). High rCBV similarity was observed (CCC = 0.96), which was maintained across both flip angle (CCC = 0.98) and repetition time (CCC = 0.96) permutations, demonstrating that dual-echo acquisitions provide flexibility in acquisition parameters. Furthermore, a single dual-echo acquisition was shown to enable quantification of both perfusion and permeability metrics. In conclusion, single-dose dual-echo acquisitions provide similar rCBV to standard double-dose single-echo acquisitions, suggesting contrast agent dose can be reduced while providing significant pulse sequence flexibility and complementary tumor perfusion and permeability metrics.

从动态磁化率对比 (DSC) MRI 获得的相对脑血容量 (rCBV) 受到脑肿瘤中对比剂泄漏的不利影响。使用模拟，我们之前证明了多回波 DSC-MRI 协议在造影剂剂量、脉冲序列灵活性和 rCBV 准确性方面提供了改进。本研究的目的是评估体内在脑肿瘤患者中进行双回声采集（n = 59）。为了验证脉冲序列的灵活性，在对比剂剂量、翻转角度和重复时间的变化下测试了四次单剂量双回波采集，并将得到的双回波 rCBV 与预加载获得的标准单回波 rCBV（双-剂量）。双回波 rCBV 与标准双剂量单回波方案相当（平均（标准差）肿瘤 rCBV 分别为 2.17 (1.28) 和 2.06 (1.20)）。观察到高 rCBV 相似性 (CCC = 0.96)，在翻转角 (CCC = 0.98) 和重复时间 (CCC = 0.96) 排列中均保持不变，表明双回波采集提供了采集参数的灵活性。此外，显示单个双回波采集可以量化灌注和渗透率指标。总之，单剂量双回波采集提供与标准双剂量单回波采集相似的 rCBV，表明可以减少造影剂剂量，同时提供显着的脉冲序列灵活性和互补的肿瘤灌注和渗透性指标。