Detection of age-dependent changes in healthy adult lungs with diffusion-weighted 3He MRI.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: To investigate changes in lung microstructure in healthy adult subjects with no smoking history using diffusion-weighted 3He MRI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging using hyperpolarized helium 3 (3He) was applied to healthy volunteers to explore the dependence of lung microstructural changes with age, reflected by changes in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of 3He in lung air spaces. Data from three sites (University of Virginia (UVa), N = 25; University of Wisconsin (UW), N = 8; University of Nottingham (UN), N = 11) were combined in pooled analysis, including a total of N = 44 subjects (age range, 18-69 years; average age, 41.7 +/- 16.7 years). RESULTS: ADC was found to depend on age at all three sites (UW, R = +0.95, P = .0003; UVa, R = +0.74, P < .0001; UN, R = +0.96, P < .0001). Increases in mean ADCs with age appeared similar across sites (UW, +0.0017 cm2 s(-1) y(-1); UVa, +0.0015 cm2 s(-1) y(-1); pooled, +0.0015 cm2 s(-1) y(-1); P = .71). In a regional analysis performed on UW data, the increase in ADC affected all regions of the lung, but the apical and middle regions showed a greater increase compared with the base of the lung. CONCLUSION: Results suggest the observed age dependence of the ADC may be caused by changes in lung microstructure that increase alveolar volume during the aging process.

Acinar structure in symptom-free adults by Helium-3 magnetic resonance.

RATIONALE: The apparent diffusion coefficient of hyperpolarized (3)He in the lungs has been shown to correlate directly in animal models with the peripheral airspace size and can detect changes in lung microstructure. OBJECTIVES: To study in vivo the (3)He apparent diffusion coefficient and to demonstrate its sensitivity to changes in lung morphometry as a result of aging, exposure to cigarette smoke, and lung inflation. METHODS: We assessed the variation in the diffusion of hyperpolarized (3)He gas in the lungs by magnetic resonance techniques. Spirometric lung volumes were recorded. MEASUREMENTS: We measured the dependence of (3)He diffusion on age and on reported cigarette smoke exposure in 32 symptom-free adults. We also measured the dependence of the apparent diffusion coefficient on the degree of lung inflation. RESULTS: In healthy never-smokers, the apparent diffusion coefficient increased with age from 0.115 to 0.155 cm(2) . s(-1) at 20 and 70 yr, respectively, increased linearly with lung inflation and was independent of individual's lung size after correcting for age. For active and passive smokers, the apparent diffusion coefficient increased by up to 40% compared with never-smokers with mean values significantly higher (p=0.016 and p=0.0007, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Peripheral airspace size increases with age and after exposure to smoke in healthy adults in agreement with previous histologic studies. We have confirmed in vivo that peripheral airspace size is independent of intersubject lung size.