Proton MRS in neurological disorders

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-1 MRS) permits the acquisition of the signal arising from several brain metabolites. Pit long echo-time (TE) H-1 MRS can detect N-acetyl-aspartate containing compounds, choline contai ning compounds, creatine + phosphocreatine and lactate. At short TE, lipids , tryglicerides, alanine, glutamate, glutamine, GABA, scyllo-inositol, gluc ose, myo-inositol, carnosine and histydine are visible. H-1 MRS can be perf ormed with single-voxel, multivoxel, single slice and multislice techniques . With single voxel H-1 MRS it is possible to measure metabolites relaxatio n time. which allows the measurement of metabolite concentrations. This tec hnique can be useful in the study of focal lesions in the central nervous s ystem (CNS) such as epilepsy (pre-surgical identification of epileptic focu s), brain tumors (evaluation of recurrence and radiation necrosis), stroke, multiple sclerosis, etc. Single slice and multislice H-1 MRS imaging (H-1 MRSI) can be performed only at long TE and permits the mapping of the brain metabolites distribution which makes them particularly useful in studying diffuse diseases and heterogeneous lesions of the CNS. H-1 MRS can also be useful in the evaluation of 'ischemic penumbra' of stroke; developmental (m yelin and neuronal dysgenesis); head trauma (evaluation of cerebral damage not visible with MRI); degenerative disorders (identification of microscopi c pathology not visible with MRI); and metabolic diseases (metabolic distur bances with specific metabolic patterns). (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.