Feasibility of using limited-population-based arterial input function for pharmacokinetic modeling of osteosarcoma dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI data.

For clinical dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI studies, it is often not possible to obtain reliable arterial input function (AIF) in each measurement. Thus, it is important to find a representative AIF for pharmacokinetic modeling of DCE-MRI data when individual AIF (Ind-AIF) measurements are not available. A total of 16 patients with osteosarcomas in the lower extremity (knee region) underwent multislice DCE-MRI. Reliable Ind-AIFs were obtained in five patients with a contrast injection rate of 2 cc/s and another five patients with a 1 cc/s injection rate. Average AIF (Avg-AIF) for each injection rate was constructed from the corresponding five Ind-AIFs. For each injection rate there are no statistically significant differences between pharmacokinetic parameters of the five patients derived with Ind-AIFs and Avg-AIF. There are no statistically significant changes in pharmacokinetic parameters of the 16 patients when the two Avg-AIFs were applied in kinetic modeling. The results suggest that it is feasible, as well as practical, to use a limited-population-based Avg-AIF for pharmacokinetic modeling of osteosarcoma DCE-MRI data. Further validation with a larger population and multiple regions is desirable.