Erschienen in:
01.09.2014 | Head and Neck
Effects of gender, age, and body mass index on fat contents and apparent diffusion coefficients in healthy parotid glands: an MRI evaluation
verfasst von:
Hing-Chiu Chang, Chun-Jung Juan, Hui-Chu Chiu, Cheng-Chieh Cheng, Su-Chin Chiu, Yi-Jui Liu, Hsiao-Wen Chung, Hsian-He Hsu
Erschienen in:
European Radiology
|
Ausgabe 9/2014
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Abstract
Objectives
To establish standard apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and the fat content as a function of age, gender and body mass index (BMI) in healthy parotid glands, and to address the influences of fat suppression on ADC measurements.
Methods
A total of 100 healthy adults (gender and age evenly distributed) were prospectively recruited, with parotid fat content measured from gradient-echo images with fat–water separated using iterative decomposition with echo asymmetry and least squares (IDEAL). The ADCs were estimated using both fat-saturated and non-fat-saturated diffusion-weighted imaging via a periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction (PROPELLER) technique.
Results
Parotid fat content was larger in men than in women by about 10 percentage points (P < 0.005), and positively associated with BMI and age for both genders (mostly with P < 0.001). ADCs estimated with non-fat-saturated PROPELLER were significantly lower in men than in women (P < 0.005), but showed no gender difference if measured using fat-saturated PROPELLER (P = 0.840). The negative association between parotid ADC and age/BMI/fat (P < 0.001) showed greater regression slopes in non-fat-saturated PROPELLER than in fat-saturated data.
Conclusions
Parotid fat content in healthy adults correlates positively with both age and BMI; the correlation with age is gender-dependent. Parotid ADC measurements are strongly influenced by fat saturation.
Key Points
• Parotid fat content in healthy adults correlates positively with age and BMI.
• The rate of aging-related increase in fat contents is gender-dependent.
• Parotid ADC measurements are strongly influenced by fat saturation.