Investigation of lung disease in preterm infants using magnetic resonance imaging

Many preterm infants require ongoing respiratory support despite treatment with exogenous surfactant, The reasons for this are unclear, but may involv e one or a combination of changes in water content or distribution within t he lung, Detailed three-dimensional information with the potential to provi de quantitation of water content may help to investigate this further, We a imed to determine if magnetic resonance (MR) imaging could be developed to study lung disease in preterm infants, Appropriate MR sequences and procedu res were defined and we found that T1 and proton density weighted images co uld be successfully acquired, The images contained three-dimensional inform ation that could not be obtained using chest radiograph, MR imaging may be a useful method for studying the pathology of respiratory distress syndrome and chronic lung disease in preterm infants. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.