QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS OF DYNAMIC GD-DTPA ENHANCEMENT IN BREAST-TUMORSUSING A PERMEABILITY MODEL

The MRI signal enhancement in a breast tumor, measured as a function o f time after a bolus injection of Gd-DTPA, may contain enough informat ion to differentiate malignant from benign tissue. We find a physiolog ical model for measuring capillary permeability and leakage space (P. S. Tofts, A. G. Kermode, measurement of the blood-brain barrier permea bility and leakage space using dynamic MR imaging. 1. Fundamental conc epts. Magn. Reson. Med. 17, 357-367 (1991)) fits the data well. The en hancement curve is particularly sensitive to the preinjection T-1 of t he tumor, the dose, and the time of injection. This model may provide a means of characterizing the pathophysiology of breast tumors from th e Gd-DTPA enhancement curve.