MRI Measurements of Airspace Enlargement in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency

Purpose: Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) affects approximately 1 in 1500 people of European1 descent and is characterized by predominate basal lung emphysema which manifests early in life. This study builds upon previous studies in AATD which examine apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) using a single diffusion weight. We extend the traditional single diffusion weighted ADC approach into the MRI morphometry approach which employs multiple diffusion weights to probe mean airspace lengths across an imaging voxel. We hypothesize that patients with AATD would show significantly elevated mean linear intercept (Lm) values as compared to COPD ex-smokers and healthy never-smokers.