Abstract
Abstract
Background
Phase-resolved functional lung magnetic resonance imaging (PREFUL-MRI) enables simultaneous, free-breathing, radiation-free assessment of regional lung perfusion and ventilation. This study aimed to provide preliminary reference data for lung perfusion and ventilation using PREFUL-MRI in healthy adults, and to characterize the physiological dependencies of these metrics on two breathing patterns, sex, and age.
Methods
In this prospective observational study, 87 healthy adults underwent PREFUL-MRI at 1.5 T during both normal and deep-slow breathing. Perfusion- and ventilation-related metrics were quantified via an automated pipeline. Paired comparisons between breathing states were performed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests; unpaired comparisons between sexes and age groups (
Results
Mean perfusion (7.7% vs. 6.0%, Holm-Bonferroni adjusted
p
p
= 0.010) were decreased, and mean ventilation (15.8% vs. 48.3%, Holm-Bonferroni adjusted
p
p
= 0.005) increased during deep breathing compared with normal breathing. Twenty-eight participants had increased lung perfusion while 59 had reduced perfusion during deep breathing relative to normal breathing. During normal breathing, men exhibited higher mean ventilation than women (20.2% vs. 14.2%, Holm-Bonferroni adjusted
p
= 0.018). During deep breathing, men demonstrated higher total perfusion defect percentage and matched ventilation-perfusion defects than women (FDR adjusted q p
> 0.05).
Conclusions
PREFUL-MRI can captures physiological variations related to breathing pattern, sex, and age in healthy adults. These findings provide a framework for distinguishing normal physiological heterogeneity from pathological change in clinical PREFUL-MRI interpretation.
Clinical trial number
Not applicable.