Executive Summary Coronary artery calcification is part of the development of atherosclerosis; it occurs exclusively in atherosclerotic arteries and is absent in the normal vessel wall. Electron-beam computed tomography (EBCT), the focus of this document, is a highly sensitive technique for detecting coronary artery calcium and is being used with increasing frequency for the screening of asympt...

The interesting article by CHINN et al. [1] explored the relationship of transfer factor (TL) or diffusing capacity to alveolar volume (VA) within normal subjects at different depths of inspiration and between normal subjects having lungs of different sizes, and found that the ratio TL/VA (often called the carbon monoxide transfer coefficient (KCO)) varied with VA itself (i.e. lung size) as wel...

Background: Breath – holding (BH) is a suitable method for inducing cerebral vasomotor reactivity (VMR). The assessment of VMR is of clinical importance for the early detection of risk conditions and for the follow-up of disabled patients. Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) is used to measure cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) during BH, whereas near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measur...

Target Audience: Radiologists and MRI scientists engaged in functional liver imaging. Purpose: The human liver has a dual blood supply that comes from the portal vein and hepatic artery. The contributions from each are altered predictably in many diseases, including primary and metastatic liver tumors, liver cirrhosis and hepatic-renal syndrome(1, 2). Because most liver pathologies affect blood...

Purpose: Cardiac cine MRI has become a routine exam for assessment of cardiac function and anatomy. Conventional 2D cine requires separate scouting scans to localize different views and at each orientation multiple breathholds are required with patient recuperation time in-between breathholds. 2D cine scans easily consume more than 10 minutes, require greater technologist skill, and significant...

Many of the drugs newly introduced into anaesthetic practice have in common a kinetic profile that permits a more rapid and precise adjustment of effect, including a more rapid recovery of normal function. Sevoflurane and desflurane fit this mold. These new inhaled anaesthetics differ kinetically from isoflurane and halothane because of their lower solubility in blood (Table), a feature produce...

A profound bradycardia may be exhibited by waterfowl and aquatic mammals when they dive underwater in search of food. A similar response occurs in humans diving underwater or simply wetting the face while breathholding. This bradycardia is mediated by the parasympathetic nervous system (vagus). We investigated whether the extent of this apneic face immersion bradycardia, or bradycardia during d...

Introduction: Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) provides a method to non-invasively assess tissue perfusion, and has recently been applied to study the kidney [1]. The importance of ASL methods to study the kidney has been highlighted due to the diagnosis of Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF), a side effect of gadolinium based contrast agents [2]. Prior ASL studies of the kidney typically acquire d...

Introduction: Respiratory motion is a common source of artifacts in MRI, especially in abdominal imaging. They can be minimized by breathholding during the acquisition. However, the ability of patients to comply with predefined breathhold lengths varies greatly, often resulting in incomplete breathholds and thus motion artifacts. Previously, this problem has been addressed by using a center-out...