Feasibility of blood oxygenation level-dependent MR imaging to monitor hepatic transcatheter arterial embolization in rabbits.

Blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a noninvasive method to assess changes in oxygen delivery to tissues. It was hypothesized that BOLD MR imaging can detect changes in rabbit VX2 liver tumor oxygenation after hepatic artery embolization with polyvinyl alcohol particles. In four discrete VX2 liver tumors, a statistically significant mean reduction in apparent transverse relaxation time was shown, from 55 milliseconds before embolization to 41 milliseconds after embolization (P < .01). This reduction corresponded to a decrease in hepatic tumor oxygenation. The use of BOLD MR imaging to monitor changes in hepatic tumor oxygenation after embolization is feasible. These functional MR imaging measurements of hypoxia may be targeted as an endpoint for therapy in future studies.