Nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry of the normal heart: relationship between collagen content and relaxation times of the four chambers.

The use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation time measurements for characterization of abnormal cardiac tissue depends upon knowledge of variations of relaxation times of normal myocardium and determinants of these variations. We calculated in vitro NMR T1 and T2 relaxation times of canine myocardium from the four cardiac chambers, and determined hydroxyproline concentration (as a measure of collagen) and percent water content of the samples. We found both water content and T1 relaxation time of the right ventricle to be significantly greater than the left atrium (p less than 0.05). T2 relaxation time of the left ventricle was found to be shorter than each of the other three chambers (p less than 0.05). There were significant correlations between the spin-lattice relaxation time and both percent water content (r = 0.58) and hydroxyproline concentration (r = 0.45). A significant correlation was also found between T2 relaxation time and hydroxyproline concentration (r = 0.49). When T1 and T2 were adjusted for water and hydroxyproline content, there was no longer any evidence for significant interchamber differences for either T1 or T2. These data suggest that differences in NMR relaxation times exist among the four chambers of the normal canine heart. Furthermore, a major determinant of myocardial spin-lattice relaxation time is tissue water content while both collagen content and percent water content significantly contribute to variability in cardiac chamber T2 relaxation times.