Spectral editing in ¹H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy: a lecture

INRODUCTION: Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MR spectroscopy, MRS) allows determining tissue metabolite concentrations in the region of interest. Clinically used MR spectroscopy pulse sequences solve two main problems: voxel localization and water signal suppression. The spectra obtained in this way are a superposition of all signals from the region of interest, so the most reliable information can be obtained only about a small number of metabolites with the highest concentrations. The remaining metabolites have low concentrations and/or have complex peak splitting, and are overlapped by more intense signals. Spectral editing is a method for identifying these metabolites in clinically available systems (<3T). This review briefly presents spectral editing methods, discusses post-processing methods for such spectra, and discusses the main results of studies using spectral editing. Spectral editing methods have shown that the concentrations of γ-aminobutyric acid, lactate, aspartate, N-acetylaspartate and N-acetylaspartylglutamate, 2-hydroxyglutarate, glutathione, and glutamate change in various diseases. The methods and research results considered in this review will allow clinicians to suggest and test new approaches to diagnosing diseases of the central nervous system. 

OBJECTIVE: To describe methods for editing the ¹H MRS spectrum in human studies and to present some of the main results of the application of these measurements.

CONCLUSION: Using the most effective editing methods to optimize information in human brain proton spectra is a highly complex technical process. However, the application of the editing techniques discussed in this lecture allows us to obtain unique and invaluable information on the intracellular concentrations of several key metabolites, which undoubtedly enhances our understanding of brain metabolism in health and disease.

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