Absolute measurements of water content using magnetic resonance imaging: Preliminary findings in an in vivo focal ischemic rat model

Using a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging method, absolute measurements of in vivo brain water content were obtained in 15 male Long Evans rats that und erwent a 90-min focal cerebral ischemia, A strong linear relationship (r = 0.80) with a slope of 1 was observed when correlating MR-measured water con tent to that obtained with the ex vivo wet/dry measurements. This effective spin-density-based method is the first-reported in vivo absolute quantific ation of brain tissue water content associated with a pathophysiological st ate and preliminary findings suggest that a noninvasive measurement of brai n water content can be obtained with MRI, Magn Reson Med 43:146-150, 2000, (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.