Metabolic assessment of the human pons by in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Objective: To determine the normal mean reference normal value for metabolic ratios in the pons of healthy adult Chinese subjects by using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1HMRS). Materials and methods: Eighty healthy Chinese subjects, ranging in age from 21 to 60 years, were divided into four groups, each containing 20 subjects per decade. The pons of every subject was scanned on single-voxel 1HMRS by using the point-resolved proton spectroscopy sequence (PRESS) with echo time (TE) = 144 ms and repetition time (TR) = 1500 ms. Results: The total mean ratios of N-acetylasparate/creatine-phosphocreatine (NAA/Cr), NAA/choline-containing compounds (Cho) and Cho/Cr in subjects ranging from 21 to 60 years were 2.13 ± 0.07, 1.22 ± 0.11 and 1.81 ± 0.09 respectively. The highest metabolite ratios were seen in the 41-50 year group. There was no significant difference with respect to age or gender. Conclusions: The ratios of NAA/Cr, NAA/Cho or Cho/Cr in the pons did not correlate with the age or gender of healthy subjects.