Assessment of Post-Transplant Lung Function Alterations Using Free-Breathing Hyperpolarized Xenon MRI
Motivation: CLAD is the leading cause of long-term mortality in lung transplant (LTX) recipients, often diagnosed only after irreversible lung damage has occurred. Goal(s): To evaluate the effectiveness of dynamic Hyperpolarized Xenon-129 MRI in detecting early gas exchange abnormalities post LTX. Approach: We imaged lung transplant recipients, healthy controls, and COPD patients using dynamic HP-Xe MRI during free-breathing. Results: LTX recipients showed gradual declines and loss of gravitational gradients of the DP/GP over time, indicating impaired gas exchange even when appearing healthy. CLAD patients exhibited increased intraregional heterogeneity and diminished gravitational gradients, similar to patients with emphysema. Impact: The findings suggest that dynamic HP-Xe MRI is a sensitive tool for detecting early pulmonary function alterations in lung transplant recipients that traditional imaging methods might miss. This could enable earlier diagnosis and intervention of CLAD, potentially improving long-term survival.
Authors
- Edward Cantu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1105-0129)
- L. Loza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8812-7118)
- Hooman Hamedani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9385-3082)
- Stephen Kadlecek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5131-7994)
- Joshua M. Diamond (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3695-4637)
- Kai Ruppert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7292-6019)
- Andrew Courtwright (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9511-5975)
- Mostafa Refat Ismail (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1960-9193)
- Paulo Cézar Gregório (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8954-2855)
- Alexey Gurevich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8031-2028)
- M. Crespo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3867-1315)
- Jiawei Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4465-9283)
- Jane Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1935-4514)
- Christian Bermudez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1252-5528)
- Rahim R. Rizi
- Mary Gorora
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings on CD-ROM - International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Scientific Meeting and Exhibition/Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Scientific Meeting and Exhibition
- Published
- 2025-09-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.58530/2025/4644
- Primary Topic
- Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00