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31P cardiac magnetic resonance spectroscopy during leg exercise at 3 Tesla

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Abstract

Investigation of phosphorus (31P) magnetic resonance spectroscopy under stress conditions provides a non-invasive tool to examine alterations in cardiac high-energy phosphate metabolism that may not be evident at rest. Our aim was to establish cardiac 31P MR spectroscopy during leg exercise at 3T. The increased field strength should provide a higher signal to noise ratio than at lower field strengths. Furthermore, relatively high temporal resolution at a sufficiently fine spatial resolution should be feasible. 31P MR spectra were obtained with a 3D acquisition weighted chemical shift imaging sequence in 20 healthy volunteers at rest, during dynamic physiological leg exercise and after recovery at 3T. Haemodynamic measurements were made throughout and the rate pressure product calculated. With exercise, the mean heart rate increased by 73%, achieving a mean increase in rate pressure product of 115%. The corrected PCr/ATP ratio for subjects at rest was 2.02 ± 0.43, exercise 2.14 ± 0.67 (P = 0.54 vs. rest) and at recovery 2.03 ± 0.52 (P = 0.91 vs. rest, P = 0.62 vs. exercise). A cardiac 31P MR spectroscopy physiological exercise-recovery protocol is feasible at 3T. There was no significant change in high-energy cardiac phosphate metabolite concentrations in healthy volunteers at rest, during physiological leg exercise or during recovery. When applied to patients with heart disease, this protocol should provide insights into physiological and pathological cardiac metabolism.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from The Medical Research Council (DJT, MDR, SN), The British Heart Foundation (LEH, DJT, YE, SEP, MDR, HW, KC, SN) and The Wellcome Trust (SN, MDR). This work was supported by the Oxford Partnership Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre with funding from the Department of Health’s NIHR Biomedical Research Centres funding scheme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK

    Lucy E. Hudsmith, Steffen E. Petersen, Jane M. Francis, Matthew D. Robson & Stefan Neubauer

  2. The Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Damian J. Tyler, Yaso Emmanuel & Kieran Clarke

  3. Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK

    Hugh Watkins

Authors
  1. Lucy E. Hudsmith
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  2. Damian J. Tyler
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  3. Yaso Emmanuel
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  4. Steffen E. Petersen
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  5. Jane M. Francis
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  6. Hugh Watkins
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  7. Kieran Clarke
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  8. Matthew D. Robson
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  9. Stefan Neubauer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefan Neubauer.

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Lucy E. Hudsmith and Damian J. Tyler contributed equally.

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Hudsmith, L.E., Tyler, D.J., Emmanuel, Y. et al. 31P cardiac magnetic resonance spectroscopy during leg exercise at 3 Tesla. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 25, 819–826 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-009-9492-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-009-9492-8

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