Pulmonary resorption of inhaled gadobutrol in an animal model: usage to determine lung diffusion in MRI examinations

The aim of this study was to examine a pulmonary gadobutrol resorption after inhalation. An examination of 16 young swine, which were given different amounts of gadobutrol through inhalation, was performed. A measurement of the signal elevation in peripheral lung tissue as well as in the thoracic aorta was made using a T1-weighted FLASH-3D sequence in a 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. Twenty minutes after gadobutrol application, a steep signal elevation in the aorta was reported, as well as a plateau phase after 45 min. The signal elevation in peripheral lung tissue after inhalation increased to a mean of 33.9%. The concurrent signal elevation of the abdominal aorta was 137.4%. The evaluation of an intravascular signal elevation after gadobutrol inhalation opens the possibility to evaluate and obtain lung diffusion with MRI.