The role of ferritin and hemosiderin in the MR appearance of cerebral hemorrhage: a histopathologic biochemical study in rats

A rat model of cerebral hemorrhage using stereotaxic injection of blood into the right basal ganglia was developed to investigate the influence of iron metabolism on the appearance of cerebral hemorrhage on MR images. Images of in vitro fixed brain sections stained specifically for different iron-storage substances, ferritin and hemosiderin, created by digitization of the pathology sections using an Eikonix CCD camera, were compared with the in vivo MR images of late-phase hematomas. Areas of the pathologic and MR features of the lesions were quantitatively correlated. The single-slice MR images were obtained with the use of T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo pulse sequences, as well as T2-weighted spin-echo pulse sequences in which the 180 degrees refocusing pulse was offset from the center of the echo time; this was termed an asymmetric spin-echo pulse sequence. The symmetric and asymmetric T2-weighted images allowed the calculation of line-width images, which emphasize line broadening from intravoxel magnetic field inhomogeneities that arise from the presence of iron-containing substances. From biochemical and histochemical staining, we conclude that at least two iron-storage substances are present in the late phase of resolving cerebral hematomas. Ferritin has a wider distribution than hemosiderin, showing a similar distribution to the MR signal changes of the calculated line-width images. Line-width mapping is a sensitive means of detecting magnetic field inhomogeneities caused by the magnetic susceptibility differences introduced by the aggregation of these iron-storage substances.