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XeLHC: Initial Impressions From Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI Measurements of Regional Lung Health in Participants from the Lung Health Cohort
Abstract   Peer reviewed

XeLHC: Initial Impressions From Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI Measurements of Regional Lung Health in Participants from the Lung Health Cohort

P.J Niedbalski, I Mali, S.B Fain, A Hahn, A.P Comellas, B Driehuys, D Mummy, L.G Que and M Castro
American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, Vol.211(Supplement_1), pp.A7939-A7939
05/01/2025
DOI: 10.1164/ajrccm.2025.211.Abstracts.A7939

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Abstract

RATIONALE: The Lung Health Cohort (LHC) is an NIH-funded study to examine determinants of lung health in 4000 young adults (ages 25-35) across the United States. In this ancillary study, we are collecting Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI (Xe-MRI) in 260 LHC participants. Xe-MRI enables measurements of regional ventilation, airspace size, and gas exchange. These regional measures of lung microstructure and function augment the data collected in the parent LHC and provide additional understanding of structure and function during the ages of peak lung health. We present initial impressions from the first 64 participants enrolled in this study. METHODS: 3 of 5 sites have been activated for this study and imaged a total of 64 participants (Kansas – 54; Iowa – 6; Duke – 4). Imaging protocols are based on 129Xe MRI Clinical Trials Consortium recommendations and are used to collect dynamic spectroscopy as well as ventilation, diffusion-weighted (or “airspace size”), and gas exchange images in all participants. Ventilation images reflect regional obstruction, diffusion-weighted images reflect regional airspace size, and gas exchange images reflect regional uptake of gas by the pulmonary interstitium and red blood cells (RBC). Images were analyzed at a central site (University of Kansas Medical Center) to generate quantitative image metrics including ventilation defect percent (VDP), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), membrane/gas, RBC/gas, and RBC/membrane. RESULTS: As expected in this population of healthy young adults, images largely appear normal. Ventilation: Most images appear normal. Many images show “texturing” of the ventilation image of unclear significance. Very few participants exhibit sizable defects. Diffusion-Weighted: Again, most images show a homogenous distribution of ADC. A small subset of participants exhibit heterogeneous or elevated ADC, indicative of enlarged airspaces. Gas Exchange Imaging: Membrane and RBC images dominantly show values within the range expected in healthy volunteers (green colors). Membrane signal lower than expected (red/orange) and RBC signal higher than expected (blue colors) are relatively common. Elevated membrane (purples) and reduced RBC (red/orange) are rare in this sample. CONCLUSIONS: Our preliminary analysis of the first 64 LHC participants imaged with Xe-MRI suggests that Xe-MRI is sensitive to subtle lung microstructure or function abnormalities even in young adults at the ages of peak lung health. The completion of this study and analysis of 260 Xe-MRI images in these healthy young adults is expected to provide an improved understanding of optimal lung health and early deviations that may lead to chronic lung disease.
 Ventilation Young adults

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