Purpose: The present study was carried out to evaluate a new intravascular contrast agent hydroxyethyl-starch-ferrioxamine (HES-FO) for assessment of myocardial perfusion.
Material and methods: Isolated pig hearts were perfused with a crystalloid cardioplegic solution in a Langendorff apparatus. MR images were acquired along the short cardiac axis using T1- and T2*-weighted methods. Gd-DTPA and HES-FO were used as the standard extracellular and test contrast agents, respectively.
Results: We found that T1-weighted signal intensity was not significantly affected by HES-FO, but increased significantly in presence of Gd-DTPA. On the other hand, HES-FO resulted in a rapid, transient but significant decrease in T2*-weighted signal intensity. Although Gd-DTPA also decreased T2*-weighted signal intensity considerably, it took much longer for the T2*-weighted signal intensity to return to its initial steady-state with Gd-DTPA than with HES-FO. Moreover, increasing the dose of HES-FO (from 0.0023-0.0138 mmol/kg b.w.) had no effect on the time at which the T2* effect reached its maximum or on the duration of the T2* effect. However, these times and durations were affected significantly by increasing the dose of Gd-DTPA (0.0023-0.027 mmol/kg b.w.).
Conclusion: The results suggest that HES-FO provides information regarding myocardial vascular flow which cannot be obtained using Gd-DTPA. It is expected that the combined use of intravascular and extracellular type contrast agents will allow more complete assessment of tissue perfusion.