Simultaneous 3D NMR spectroscopy of fluorine and phosphorus in human liver during 5‐fluorouracil chemotherapy

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Abstract
Simultaneous multivoxel 31P and 19F 3D localized NMR spec‐troscopy is demonstrated on a phantom and in the liver of patients undergoing bolus‐infusion 5‐fluorouracil chemotherapy. The 19F and 31P spectra were localized with 8 × 8 × 8 3D chemical‐shift imaging, with both nuclei sharing the same field of view and voxel size (27 and 64 ml in phantom and liver, respectively) using a 1.5‐Tesla clinical imager with two RF channels and a dual‐tuned surface coil. The repetition time (TR = 0.26 s) and Ernst nutation angles (θE = 32° for 19F, 28° for 31P) were chosen to optimize the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) per‐untt time for the 0.5‐ to 2‐s T1 range of the 19F and 31P metabolites of interest The overall examination time, including tuning, imaging, shimming and dual‐nuclear spectroscopy, was under 90 min. Simultaneous acquisition of 31P and 19F spectra will permit the study of the influence of hepatic and/or tumor metabolism on the uptake and catabolism of fluoropyrimidine drugs with no extra measurement time.