Novel contrast mixture improves bladder wall contrast for visualizing bladder injury

• Published in: American journal of physiology. Renal physiology 2017-08, Vol.313 (2), p.F155-F162
• Main Authors: Tyagi, Pradeep, Janicki, Joseph J, Hitchens, T Kevin, Foley, Lesley M, Kashyap, Mahendra, Yoshimura, Naoki, Kaufman, Jonathan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Administration, Intravesical; Anesthesia; Animals; Bladder; Contrast agents; Contrast Media - administration & dosage; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Ferrosoferric Oxide - administration & dosage; Gadolinium; Image processing; Injuries; Isoflurane; Localization; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Nanoparticles; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Organometallic Compounds - administration & dosage; Particle Size; Predictive Value of Tests; Protamine sulfate; Protamines; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reproducibility of Results; Rodents; Segmentation; Time Factors; Urinary bladder; Urinary Bladder - diagnostic imaging; Urinary Bladder - pathology; Urinary Bladder Diseases - chemically induced; Urinary Bladder Diseases - diagnostic imaging; Urinary Bladder Diseases - pathology
• ISSN: 1931-857X; 1522-1466
• DOI: 10.1152/ajprenal.00609.2016

Here, we tested whether combined contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CCE-MRI), using a mixture of gadolinium- and iron oxide-based contrast agents, can segment the bladder wall from the bladder lumen. CCE-MRI relies on the differences in particle size and contrast mechanisms of two agents for improved image contrast. Under isoflurane anesthesia, T1-weighted imaging of adult female Sprague-Dawley rat bladder was performed using standard turbospin echo sequences at 7 Tesla, before and after transurethral instillation of 0.3 ml of single-contrast MRI or CCE-MRI composed of 0.4-64 mM of gadolinium chelate (Gd-DTPA/Gadavist) and 5 mM ferumoxytol. Bladder wall contrast was assessed in the control group exposed to saline and in the bladder injury group exposed to 0.5 ml of protamine sulfate (10 mg/ml) for 30 min. CCE-MRI following instillation of 0.4-4 mM Gd-DTPA and 5 mM ferumoxytol mixture achieved segmentation between the bladder lumen and bladder wall. Hyperintensity in the bladder wall combined with hypointensity in the lumen is consistent with the increased diffusion of the dissolved Gd-DTPA and simultaneous localization of the larger nanoparticles of ferumoxytol in the lumen. The normalized hyperintense signal in the bladder wall increased from 0.46 ± 0.07 in control group to 0.73 ± 0.14 in the protamine sulfate-exposed group ( < 0.0001). CCE-MRI following instillation of contrast mixture identifies bladder wall changes likely associated with bladder injury with improved image contrast.