TY - JOUR T1 - Age-dependent changes in whole-lung septal thickness measured by <sup>129</sup>Xe MRI: A comparison of healthy volunteers and subjects with IPF JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 44 IS - Suppl 58 SP - P550 AU - Neil J. Stewart AU - General Leung AU - Graham Norquay AU - Helen Marshall AU - Juan Parra-Robles AU - Catherine Billings AU - Philip Murphy AU - Rolf F. Schulte AU - Jan Wolber AU - David G. Kiely AU - Moira K.B. Whyte AU - Jim M. Wild Y1 - 2014/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P550.abstract N2 - Introduction: Techniques for studying lung function with hyperpolarised (HP) 129Xe are promising for quantification of whole-lung septal thickness, but are yet to be validated in older healthy subjects, or in patients with known fibrotic parenchyma.Objective: To demonstrate the feasibility of non-invasive measurement of lung septal thickness with HP 129Xe MRI in healthy volunteers and subjects with IPF.Methods: 129Xe spectroscopy was performed at 1.5T with 10 healthy volunteers (23-74 yrs) and 4 IPF patients. A chemical shift saturation recovery (CSSR) method was used to assess the dynamics of xenon uptake into parenchymal tissues and blood and to derive quantitative information about lung microstructure. Standard pulmonary function tests (PFTs) were conducted for comparison.Results: A gradual increase in whole-lung septal thickness with volunteer age was measured by HP 129Xe CSSR. Statistically significant thickening of alveolar septa was observed in IPF subjects as compared to volunteers (p&lt;0.05). All volunteers had normal PFTs (FEV1, FVC, DLCO &gt;70% predicted), whilst IPF subjects had variable FEV1 and FVC (40-100%) and poor DLCO (&lt;45%).Conclusions: 129Xe CSSR is sensitive to small changes in lung microstructure with aging in healthy lungs that cannot be identified by PFTs. The technique shows potential for assessment of severity of fibrotic and interstitial lung disorders. ER -