Detection of IV-gadolinium Leakage from the Cortical Veins into the CSF Using MR Fingerprinting.

Purpose: It has been reported that leakage of intravenously administered gadolinium-based contrast agents (IV-GBCAs) into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the cortical veins even in healthy subjects can be detected using a highly sensitive pulse sequence such as heavily T-2-weighted 3D fluid-attenuated inversion recovery and 3D-real inversion recovery (IR). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of MR fingerprinting to detect GBCA leakage from the cortical veins after IV-GBCA. Materials: Fourteen patients with suspected endolymphatic hydrops (EH) who received a single dose of IV-GBCA (39-79 years old) were included. The real IR images as well as MR fingerprinting images were obtained at 4 h after IV-GBCA. T-1 and T-2 values were obtained using MR fingerprinting and analyzed in ROIs covering intense GBCA leakage, and non-leakage areas of the CSF as determined on real IR images. The scan time for real IR imaging was 10 min and that for MR fingerprinting was 41 s. Results: The mean T-1 value of the ROI in the area of GBCA leakage was 2422 +/- 261 ms and that in the non-leakage area was 3851 +/- 235 ms (P < 0.01). There was no overlap between the T-1 values in the area of GBCA leakage and those in the non-leakage area. The mean T-2 value in the area of GBCA leakage was 319 +/- 90 ms and that in the non-leakage area was 670 +/- 166 ms (P < 0.01). There was some overlap between the T-2 values in the area of GBCA leakage and those in the non-leakage area. Conclusion: Leaked GBCA from the cortical veins into the surrounding CSF can be detected using MR fingerprinting obtained in <1 min.