Increased fetal lung T2 signal is not due to increasing surfactant concentration: an in vitro T2 mapping analysis

Object The aim of this study was to perform in vitro T2 mapping of serial dilutions of pharmaceutical surfactant. Materials and methods Magnetic resonance imaging. Magnetic resonance scanning was performed on serial dilutions of surfactant on large bore clinical magnets at a field strength of 1.5 T Philips and 3.0 T (Achieva TX, Philips Healthcare, the Netherlands). Results The curves demonstrate a small increasing trend between surfactant concentration and R2 (shortened T2's), with a 7.3% increase in R2 for each doubling of surfactant concentration (95% confidence interval: 6.1–8.6%, p < 0.001). Conclusions The increasing lung/liver T2 signal ratio seen in fetal lungs with increasing gestational age is not due to increasing surfactant concentration. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.