The findings are notable, because pulmonary complications such as bronchiolitis obliterans are a major source of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric HSCT population, and an accurate and early diagnostic tool identifying the location and severity of suspected obstructive lung pathology following HSCT is desperately needed, she said.
The HSCT patients in the current study included four boys and nine girls. Isotopically-enriched xenon gas (86% 129Xe) was hyperpolarized using a commercial polarizer and images were acquired during a breath hold of up to 16 seconds and up to 1 L of xenon gas. Conventional anatomic MR images also were acquired.
The 129Xe ventilation was quantified using a less than 60% mean whole-lung 129Xe signal threshold, and was compared to FEV1 percentage predicted as measured via spirometry.
The procedure was well tolerated by all patients, Dr. Walkup said, noting that no patients withdrew from the study, and all were able to maintain the required breath hold.