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H L Kantor

Publications and source records attributed to H L Kantor.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Contrast induced myocardial signal reduction: effect of lanthanide chelates on ultra high speed MR images.

The myocardial MR signal reduction associated with an intravenous bolus of Gd-DTPA and Dy-DTPA was studied in a canine model. Imaging was performed with a high speed echo-planar type imaging system (Instascan, Advanced NMR Systems, Inc.). Gated spin-echo images were obtained with TE of 30 ms, which permits image acquisition in approximately 40 ms. The gated TR was dependent on the heart rate, with an average TR of 2.4 s. After 0.1 mmol/kg of contrast was injected, 70 images were acquired, which showed in an 80-image data set a reduction in myocardial signal with a gradual return to normal. After dipyridamole infusion, the signal loss was significantly more pronounced, and earlier than in the control data set. There was no significant difference between Gd-DTPA and Dy-DTPA in these imaging studies despite the theoretical prediction of better Dy signal reduction, possibly due to physiological variability during the course of a study or between studies. The cause of enhanced contrast effect after dipyridamole infusion is discussed, as is the basis for dipyridamole enhancement, and the possible role of contrast enhanced MR imaging in the detection of cardiac disease.

Animals↗

13C-NMR spectroscopy of human atherosclerotic lesions. Relation between fatty acid saturation, cholesteryl ester content, and luminal obstruction.

Previous investigations have used 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to demonstrate the similarities between lipoproteins and the mobile lipids of atheroma. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that 13C-NMR changes are related to indices of histological severity. We classified 20 human arteries according to their obstruction ratio (OR), defined as the ratio of the plaque area to the area delimited by the external elastic lamina. In group A, OR was < 40%, and in group B, OR was > 40%. We analyzed at 9.4 T the resonances of unsaturated (UFA) and polyunsaturated (PUFA) carbons, the resonances of the carbons 19 and 21 (C19, C21) of cholesteryl esters (CE), the methine carbon peak of fatty acids (CH2)n, the choline peak from phospholipids (PL), and the glycerol peak from triglyceride (TG). The UFA/PUFA, UFA/(CH2)n, and PUFA/(CH2)n ratios are markers of fatty acid saturation. (C19, C21)/(CH2)n, choline/(CH2)n, and glycerol/(CH2)n are indices of CE, PL, and TG content, respectively. UFA/PUFA in group A is 1.15 +/- 0.34 versus 1.63 +/- 0.32 in group B (P = .005). PUFA/(CH2)n is 0.26 +/- 0.10 in group A versus 0.16 +/- 0.04 in group B (P = .049). C19, C21/(CH2)n in group A is 0.32 +/- 0.15 versus 0.63 +/- 0.23 for group B (P = .003). No significant difference was found in UFA/(CH2)n or in the TG or PL ratios. 13C spectral examination of human atherosclerosis demonstrates decreased resonances for polyunsaturated fatty acyl chains and cholesteryl esters with increasing obstruction.

Adult↗

Anisotropy of water diffusion in the myocardium of the rat.

Pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance methods combined with nuclear magnetic resonance imaging were used to determine the water diffusion anisotropy in perfused rat hearts at 37 degrees C. It was found that the observed diffusion coefficient D(app) (apparent diffusion coefficient) depends on the orientation of the applied gradient g. When g is parallel to the epicardial surface, the observed diffusivity is D(app) parallel = 1.8 +/- 0.4 x 10(-9) m2.s-1, whereas when g is perpendicular to it, diffusivity is D(app) perpendicular = 2.5 +/- 0.5 x 10(-9) m2.s-1. To better characterize this directional dependence, images of the second-order diffusion tensor D of the myocardium were obtained. These data demonstrate several essential features of cardiac myoarchitecture, including the helicity of fiber orientation with respect to the ventricular axis and the variation of fiber pitch angle with transmural depth. Diffusion anisotropy may be quantified in a coordinate-independent manner by the eigenvalues of the diffusion tensor. In the myocardial midwall, these eigenvalues were E1 = 3.29 +/- 0.57, E2 = 2.01 +/- 0.42, and E3 = 0.77 +/- 0.58 x 10(-9) m2.s-1 (mean +/- SD). These data suggest that myocardial water diffusion is essentially unrestricted parallel to the myofibers. They further show that failure to measure the complete diffusion tensor may lead to substantial underestimates of diffusion anisotropy in the myocardium.

Animals↗

Warm and cold blood cardioplegia. Comparison of myocardial function and metabolism using 31p magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

BACKGROUND: Standard myocardial protection during cardiac surgery uses hypothermic arrest, but warm heart surgery, recently introduced, is now used in many centers. We hypothesized that warm continuous blood cardioplegia (WCBC) would provide better myocardial preservation than cold continuous blood cardioplegia (CCBC). METHODS AND RESULTS: In isolated cross-perfused canine hearts, left ventricular (LV) function and myocardial O2 consumption (MVO2) were measured at constant LV volume, coronary perfusion pressure, and heart rate before and after 75 minutes of arrest at 37 degrees C or 10 degrees C. Metabolism was evaluated by 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. LV resting tone increased transiently after arrest by CCBC but not WCBC (38 +/- 3.9 versus 2.9 +/- 0.5 mm Hg, P < .0005). Myocardial ATP changed over time differently in the groups (P < .001), declining at the outset of CCBC and returning to control levels during the recovery period after CCBC or WCBC. Intracellular pH rose from 7.17 +/- 0.03 to 7.85 +/- 0.05 during CCBC (P < .0005 versus WCBC). MVO2 declined dramatically during arrest at either temperature but to a lower value during CCBC (P < .0005). LV pressure recovered to 86.1 +/- 5.1% of its prearrest value after CCBC and to 97.2 +/- 7.8% following WCBC (P = NS). After CCBC but not WCBC, there were small but significant increases in LV end-diastolic pressure (by 1.3 mm Hg, P < .05) and in the LV relaxation constant, tau (from 37.3 +/- 1.5 to 42.3 +/- 2.4 milliseconds, P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: The increase in intracellular pH during CCBC is largely accounted for by physicochemical factors. Group differences in ATP over time may be related to rapid cooling contracture during CCBC. The data suggest that CCBC mildly impairs LV function but that WCBC preserves function and metabolism at or near prearrest levels.

Adenosine Triphosphate↗

Magnetic resonance imaging with superparamagnetic iron oxide particles for the detection of myocardial reperfusion.

The effect of superparamagnetic iron oxide particles on magnetic resonance myocardial signal intensity was examined in order to define the ability of this agent to identify normal, ischemic, and reperfused myocardium. Data were obtained from 6 normal rats (group 1) and from 6 heterotopic isogenic rat heart transplants (group 2) at 4.7 T with a multislice spin-echo sequence. Images were acquired in (a) normal rats before and after the infusion of 36 mumol Fe/kg of AMI-25 (group 1) and (b) rat heart transplants during control, global myocardial ischemia (before and after the injection of 72 mumol Fe/kg of AMI-25), and following reperfusion (group 2). Myocardial signal intensity decreased by 36 +/- 4%, p less than 0.001, following contrast infusion in normal hearts (group 1). The intensity remained constant in the rat heart transplants (group 2) during coronary occlusion, both before and after the infusion of AMI-25 and decreased by 61 +/- 7%, p less than 0.001, upon reperfusion. The larger effect of AMI-25 in reperfused as compared to normal myocardium suggests the presence of ischemia-induced hyperemia. There was no significant difference (analysis of variance) among intensities from different myocardial regions in either group at any stage of the experiment. We conclude that the use of AMI-25 permits identification of normal, ischemic, and reperfused myocardium and may therefore be helpful for the early detection of reperfusion following thrombolytic therapy for acute myocardial infarction.

Animals↗

Heterotopic transplanted rat heart: a model for in vivo determination of phosphorus metabolites during ischemia and reperfusion.

A model of heterotopic isogenic rat heart transplantation was developed in order to noninvasively observe the acute and chronic metabolic changes of ischemia. This study presents the results of 31P spectroscopy during acute global ischemia and reperfusion. The advantages of this model over other surface coil in vivo ischemia experiments are: (1) Thoracotomy for surface coil positioning is not required, thus the results are not influenced by the effect of recent major surgery. (2) Survival is not influenced by the degree of ischemic damage to the transplant, and the model enables repeated long-term studies of the metabolic effect of reversible ischemia, and myocardial infarction. (3) The pathologic process created is homogeneous and thus the results are not complicated by variation in the severity of myocardial ischemia.

Animals↗

Signal loss induced by superparamagnetic iron oxide particles in NMR spin-echo images: the role of diffusion.

MR contrast agents are used to improve the detectability of pathologic conditions. In this study we clarify the mechanism of action of a newly developed superparamagnetic agent (AMI-25, Advanced Magnetics Inc., Cambridge, MA). Transverse relaxation rates were measured from segments of rat brain, heart, and liver using a CPMG pulse sequence. Relaxation rates varied with the time interval between the refocusing pulses in the sequence (tau). The diffusion effect on signal intensity was quantitated from the variation of T2 with tau. We find that diffusion in the presence of microscopic field gradients reduces T2, and that this effect differs in magnitude among tissues. Superparamagnetic iron oxide particles enhance this T2 reduction. The dependence of T2 upon tau suggests a model of restricted diffusion. Tissue image contrast induced by superparamagnetic iron oxide in spin-echo NMR studies is the result of a combination of diffusion-dependent and diffusion-independent differences in transverse relaxation.

Animals↗

Sensory stimulation by time-varying magnetic fields.

When two human volunteers were imaged with magnetic field gradient dB/dt of 61 T/s RMS, the subjects reported, to our surprise, feeling muscular twitches synchronous with gradient pulses over repeated experiments. No adverse or sustained effects were seen. Experiments in a canine, intended to assess the safety of MR imaging with dB/dt of up to 66 T/s RMS, failed to induce detectable changes in the electrocardiogram or to show any signs of gross response to gradient pulsing. Although these data are preliminary, and largely anecdotal, they suggest a level above which such stimulation may occur. We believe that this is the first report of direct human stimulation in an MRI device and that determination of the stimulation threshold may have impact on the selection of appropriate operating points for magnetic imaging systems.

Animals↗

Functional cerebral imaging by susceptibility-contrast NMR.

In vivo measurement of cerebral physiology by dynamic contrast-enhanced NMR is demonstrated. Time-resolved images of the cerebral transit of paramagnetic contrast agent were acquired using a new ultrafast NMR imaging technique and a novel mechanism of image contrast based on microscopic changes in tissue magnetic susceptibility. Global hypercapnia in dogs was used to establish the relationship between susceptibility-induced signal change and brain blood volume, and the response of gray and white matter to this microvascular stimulus was measured.

Animals↗

Cardiovascular MR imaging with iron oxide particles: utility of a superparamagnetic contrast agent and the role of diffusion in signal loss.

This study describes the effect of superparamagnetic iron oxide on myocardial signal intensity and defines the mechanism of action of this agent. Magnetic resonance images of the heart and relaxation data were obtained in 19 rats, and another three rats were used for measurements of contrast material concentration in the heart, with the contrast agent enriched with iron-59. A dose of 36 mumols of iron per kilogram induced homogeneous signal loss in the myocardium with a gated spin-echo sequence with a repetition time of 1,500 msec and an echo time of 20 msec. The reduction in signal intensity was the result of a combination of diffusion-dependent and diffusion-independent T2 shortening. The diffusion effect results from dephasing of spins moving across magnetic field gradients generated in the tissue by the contrast agent. The relative contribution of the diffusion-induced signal loss observed in vivo was larger than that predicted from the in vitro relaxation measurements. The reduced in vitro effect is likely the result of loss of a portion of the intramyocardial blood volume during sample preparation, as assessed with the Fe-59 measurements.

Animals↗

MRI detection of myocardial perfusion changes by gadolinium-DTPA infusion during dipyridamole hyperemia.

To detect abnormal regional myocardial coronary flow reserve, serial spin-echo MR tomograms of four control dogs and six with a partial balloon occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery were acquired before and after dipyridamole infusion and during the paramagnetic effect of a bolus plus infusion of gadolinium-DTPA. Microsphere myocardial blood flow was measured for correlation with serial regional changes in MR signal intensity. Significant difference in gadolinium-enhanced MR signal intensity existed between the hypoperfused LAD and the hyperemic left circumflex perfusion beds (46 +/- 22% vs 78 +/- 29% above baseline, respectively; P less than 0.05). The percentage changes in gadolinium-enhanced MR signal and microsphere myocardial blood flow were significantly correlated (r2 = 0.93).

Animals↗

NMR spectroscopy as an investigative technique in physiology.

Relating physiological variables on an organ system level to metabolic function within the intracellular environment has been exceedingly difficult because of a paucity of techniques. Most of the tools at our command necessitate either the removal or destruction of tissues before measurements can be made. Recently, NMR spectroscopy has been applied to several important questions relating organ system and cellular physiology. NMR has the distinct advantage of being noninvasive and nondestructive, allowing the investigator to make repetitive measurements of intracellular variables while manipulating experimental variables that are important on the organ system level. In this review we shall present several examples of such NMR investigations so that the reader will gain some appreciation of the potential of this relatively new technique. Cellular acid-base homeostatic mechanisms, high-energy phosphate metabolism, and regulation of anaerobic glycolysis will be discussed for such diverse cellular populations as mammalian brain, mammalian heart muscle, salamander skeletal muscle, amphibian skin, and invertebrate muscle. In addition, the role of phosphomonoesters and phosphodiesters in lipid metabolism for several tissues in different species will be evaluated.

Animals↗

Relation between work and phosphate metabolite in the in vivo paced mammalian heart.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to monitor, on a beat-to-beat basis, the concentration of creatine phosphate and adenosine triphosphate during alterations in the work output of canine hearts in vivo. Over a wide range of rate-pressure products (5,000 to 25,000 mmHg/min), the relative amounts of creatine phosphate and adenosine triphosphate within the heart remained constant. The relative concentration of free adenosine diphosphate was calculated under the reasonable assumption that the creatine kinase-catalyzed reaction is near equilibrium in this tissue. The free concentration of adenosine diphosphate also did not change over this range of rate-pressure products. The data demonstrate that the concentration of these compounds is highly regulated in vivo and suggest that factors other than their concentration may be involved in the modulation of steady-state myocardial work output with oxygen consumption.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

Gated in vivo examination of cardiac metabolites with 31P nuclear magnetic resonance.

Phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (31P NMR) spectroscopy was used to study the temporal aspects of metabolism of canine heart in vivo. An NMR catheter coil was passed through the jugular vein of a dog into the apex of the right ventricle, and spectra were recorded at four points in the cardiac cycle by triggering from the blood pressure trace of the animal. The 31P spin-lattice relaxation times of phosphocreatine (PC) and the gamma-, alpha-, and beta-phosphates of ATP at 1.89 Tesla are 4.4, 1.8, 1.7, and 1.6 s, respectively. The ratio of PC to ATP is 2.0. No changes in PC/ATP were noted in any of the four portions of the cardiac cycle examined, and difference spectra exhibited no observable signals, in contrast to previously reported results for glucose-perfused rat hearts. On the assumption that intracellular pH and the total creatine pool were constant, the equilibrium expression for the creatine kinase reaction was used to deduce that free ADP concentrations were invariant throughout the cardiac cycle. This is in apparent disagreement with the proposed regulatory role for ADP in heart oxidative phosphorylation.

2,3-Diphosphoglycerate↗

Kinetics of creatine phosphokinase and adenylate kinase. A two-dimensional NMR analysis.

The kinetics of creatine phosphokinase and adenylate kinase catalyzed reactions were studied at equilibrium by two-dimensional Fourier transform phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance. For the creatine phosphokinase reaction, a pseudo-first-order rate constant of 0.29 s-1 was determined for the transfer of a phosphate group from adenosine triphosphate to creatine phosphate. For the adenylate kinase reaction two slow rate processes were required to describe the experimental results. The conversion of adenosine diphosphate to adenosine monophosphate was found to have a pseudo-first-order rate constant of 1.2 s-1, whereas that for the release of adenosine triphosphate from its enzyme complex occurred at a rate of 14 s-1.

Adenine Nucleotides↗

Candida albicans meningitis in a parenteral drug abuser.

We have described a patient with meningitis due to Candida albicans, in whom the only identifiable risk factor was a history of intravenous amphetamine abuse. Despite intravenous therapy with 2 gm of amphotericin B and concurrent 5-fluorocytosine, symptoms, CSF pleocytosis, and hypoglycorrhachia persisted. After a brief course of intrathecal amphotericin B therapy, the patient improved clinically and the CSF returned to normal.

Adult↗