Abstract
Purpose: To use manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI) at 25 × 25 × 800 μm3 to image different retinal and vascular layers in the rat retinas. Materials and Methods: Manganese-chloride was injected intraocularly in normal (n = 5) and Royal College of Surgeons (RCS, an model of photoreceptor degeneration) (n = 5) rats at postnatal day 90. MEMRI at 4.7 T was performed 24 hours later. MRI was repeated following intravenous Gd-DTPA in the same animals to highlight the vasculatures. Layer assignment and thickness were compared to histology. Results: MEMRI 24 hours after intravitreal manganese-chloride injection revealed seven bands of alternating hyper- and hypointensities, corresponding histologically to the ganglion cell layer, inner plexiform layer, inner nuclear layer, outer plexiform layer, outer nuclear layer, photoreceptor-segment layer, and choroidal vascular layer. Intravenous Gd-DTPA-which does not cross the blood-retinal barrier and the retinal pigment epithelium-further enhanced the two layers bounding the retina, corresponding to the retinal and choroidal vascular layers, but not the avascular outer nuclear layer and the photoreceptor-segment layer. MEMRI of the RCS retinas revealed the loss of the outer plexiform layer, outer nuclear layer, and photoreceptor-segment layer. Histological analysis corroborated the MRI laminar assignments and thicknesses. Conclusion: Lamina-specific retinal structures neurodegenerative changes to structure in retinal diseases can be detected using MEMRI.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1422-1429 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2011 |
Keywords
- MEMRI
- MRI microscopy
- RCS
- high resolution imaging
- magnetic resonance imaging
- retinal degeneration
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging