Hyperpolarised 129-xenon diffusion-weighted MRI in interstitial lung disease

Introduction: Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) is a measure of gas diffusion in the airspaces, where restrictions by tissue boundaries provide information about lung microstructure down to the alveolar level. Diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI of the lung with hyperpolarised helium in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has shown that ADC correlates with DLCO, KCO and CT fibrosis score (Chan, H-F. et al. Radiology 2019; doi:10.1148/radiol.2019181714) but to date no data are available on the utility of 129-xenon (129Xe) diffusion in interstitial lung disease (ILD).

Aim: To evaluate the ability of 129Xe DW-MRI to distinguish between ILD subtypes.

Methods: A prospective, multicentre study of patients with ILD including drug induced ILD (DI-ILD), hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), IPF and connective tissue disease ILD (CTD-ILD). Hyperpolarised 129Xe DW-MRI was performed on a 1.5 T scanner and mean ADC was calculated.

Results: To date, 33 patients (6 DI-ILD, 7 HP, 15 IPF, 5 CTD-ILD) have undergone baseline 129Xe DW-MRI. There was a significant difference in mean ADC between the ILD subtypes (p=0.011), with the significant difference occuring between the HP (median: 0.038cm2/s) and IPF (median: 0.048cm2/s) groups (p<0.01). Median FVC% predicted in the HP and IPF groups was 75.6% and 84.7% respectively. There was a correlation between mean ADC and DLCO (r=-0.39; p=0.03) as well as KCO (r=-0.58; p<0.01) but not FVC (r=0.24; p=0.19).

Conclusions: We demonstrate a correlation between mean 129Xe ADC and DLCO but not FVC. Our findings suggest significant differences in mean ADC between IPF and HP. Therefore, 129Xe DW-MRI could potentially have a role in differentiating changes in the airway microstructure in ILD subtypes.