The feasibility of measuring phosphocreatine recovery kinetics in muscle using a single-shot (31)P RARE MRI sequence.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

Heterogeneity of skeletal muscle structure, composition, and perfusion results in spatial differences in oxidative function between muscles and muscle regions. The simultaneous measurement of the postexercise phosphocreatine (PCr) recovery rate across all muscles of a human limb cross-section may provide new insights into normal physiology and disease states. The objective of this work was to assess the feasibility of acquiring PCr rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) images with sufficient temporal and spatial resolution to accurately measure PCr recovery kinetics in a cross-section of a human limb.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

One normal subject performed a finger exercise until fatigued. At cessation of exercise surface coil localized pulse-and-acquire phosphorus-31 MR spectra ((31)P- magnetic resonance spectroscopy [MRS]) of the forearm were acquired at 6 S intervals for 4 minutes. The exercise protocol was repeated 7 days later and axial PCr RARE images of the forearm were acquired following exercise with 5.6 cm(3) voxels at 6-second intervals for 4 minutes.

RESULTS

The PCr recovery time constants for the PCr RARE and (31)P-MRS measurements were 91.0 and 91.1 seconds, respectively, based on a monoexponential fit. A Pearson correlation test showed that the PCr recovery data that resulted from the RARE PCr imaging were highly correlated with the data resulting from the (31)P-MRS (r = 0.91, P < .0001).

DISCUSSION

Data from selected regions of RARE PCr images acquired at 6-second intervals compare well to those acquired using surface coil (31)P MR spectroscopy and can provide an accurate assessment of PCr recovery kinetics.