Blood oxygenation level-dependent MRI of the skeletal muscle during ischemia in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease

PURPOSE: To compare calf muscle Blood Oxygenation Level-Dependent (BOLD) response during ischemia in patients suffering from peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) and age-matched non-PAOD subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PAOD patients with symptoms of intermittent calf claudication and an age-matched control group underwent T 2*-weighted single-shot multi-echo planar imaging on a whole-body MR scanner at 1.5 T. The muscle BOLD signal in the calf was acquired during 60 sec of baseline and 240 sec of ischemia induced by cuff compression. T 2* time courses in four calf muscles were evaluated. RESULTS: Significant differences in the mean T 2* values were noted after 150 sec of measurement (p > 0.05). Patients with PAOD revealed a significantly reduced BOLD signal decrease compared to an age-matched control group. CONCLUSION: Potential cause for this observation may be changes in the structure and/or the metabolic turnover of the muscle in PAOD patients.