# Quantitative Cardiac Sodium MRI

> **NIH NIH R21** · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $432,528

## Abstract

Project Summary
Sodium handling by the myocyte plays a key role in cardiac function. Active pumping of sodium by membrane-
based channels normally maintains a large electrochemical gradient across the cell membrane, which enables
depolarization and repolarization during the cardiac cycle. Coupling of sodium transport to the transport of other
ionic species, including calcium, also has important effects on the cardiac cycle. Myocardial ischemia decreases
the ability to actively transport sodium out of the myocyte, contributing to the associated loss of cardiac
contractility and increased arrhythmogenicity. Molecular abnormalities of sodium transport (e.g., in Brugada and
long-QT syndromes) also predispose to arrhythmias, as do many drugs that affect sodium transport. The ability
to quantify intracellular and extracellular sodium concentrations in the heart would thus likely contribute useful
information on both normal and abnormal cardiac function. There are very limited means available for the
noninvasive assessment of cardiac sodium. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can create images of sodium
content in cardiac tissue. However, technical difficulties associated with sodium cardiac MRI, including poor
signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and difficulty in separating intracellular and extracellular sodium concentrations, have
limited its current clinical utility. The proposed research will address some of these difficulties, with the goal of
significantly improving the ability to quantify cardiac sodium with MRI. The aims of the research include: (1)
Implementation of 3D linogram sodium imaging, which offers potentially fast and accurate image reconstruction,
and implementation of XD-GRASP sodium imaging and reconstruction methods, which offer improved SNR and
motion compensation; (2) Combining sodium MRI and contrast-enhanced hydrogen MRI to enable calculation
of intracellular sodium concentration and extracellular volume fraction in myocardial tissue; and (3) Testing these
methods for feasibility on both normal subjects and patients with abnormal sodium handling, such as Brugada
syndrome and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. In addition to providing a useful set of tools to investigate sodium
handling in the heart, which is a fundamental aspect of normal and abnormal cardiac physiology or function,
these new methods should also be useful for other applications of sodium MRI.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9874408
- **Project number:** 1R21EB029168-01
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Leon Axel
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $432,528
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-12 → 2024-09-11

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9874408

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9874408, Quantitative Cardiac Sodium MRI (1R21EB029168-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9874408. Licensed CC0.

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