Elimination of residual lipid contamination in single volume proton MR spectra of human brain

Short echo time H-1 NMR spectra of the human brain reveal signals from vari ous metabolites. In addition, resonances from macromolecules are present th at may provide further useful information in several brain diseases. The de tection of all these signals is possible if excellent volume selection is o btained; even small lipid contamination from surrounding fat tissue leads t o strong spectral contamination, It affects the macromolecule resonances in the 0.5 to 2.0 ppm region and some adjacent metabolite signals and jeopard izes their quantitative analysis, This paper demonstrates how spatial conta mination from insufficiently dephased signals can be recognized, analysed, and removed in localized STEAM spectroscopy of the brain. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.