Fast Phase-Contrast Cine MRI for Assessing Intracranial Hemodynamics and Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics.

Naoki Ohno,Masako Ohno,Satoshi Kobayashi,Tatsuhiko Matsushita,Tosiaki Miyati,Noam Alperin,Takashi Hamaguchi,Toshifumi Gabata,Tomohiro Noda,Mitsuhito Mase

doi:10.3390/diagnostics10040241

Abstract

We propose fast phase-contrast cine magnetic resonance imaging (PC-cine MRI) to allow breath-hold acquisition, and we compared intracranial hemo- and hydrodynamic parameters obtained during breath holding between full inspiration and end expiration. On a 3.0 T MRI, using electrocardiogram (ECG)-synchronized fast PC-cine MRI with parallel imaging, rectangular field of view, and segmented k-space, we obtained velocity-mapped phase images at the mid-C2 level with different velocity encoding for transcranial blood flow and cerebrospinal-fluid (CSF) flow. Next, we calculated the peak-to-peak amplitudes of cerebral blood flow (ΔCBF), cerebral venous outflow, intracranial volume change, CSF pressure gradient (ΔPG), and intracranial compliance index. These parameters were compared between the proposed and conventional methods. Moreover, we compared these parameters between different utilized breath-hold maneuvers (inspiration, expiration, and free breathing). All parameters derived from the fast PC method agreed with those from the conventional method. The ΔPG was significantly higher during full inspiration breath holding than at the end of expiration and during free breathing. The proposed fast PC-cine MRI reduced scan time (within 30 s) with good agreement with conventional methods. The use of this method also makes it possible to assess the effects of respiration on intracranial hemo- and hydrodynamics.

Highlights

The dimensions of the cranial cavity that houses the brain are quite constrained
We evaluated the relationships of ΔICVC, ΔPG, intracranial compliance index (ICCI), ΔCBF, and ΔCVO
Bland–Altman plots of ΔICVC, ΔPG, ICCI, acquisition reduced the scan time fivefold compared with the conventional method

Summary

Introduction

The dimensions of the cranial cavity that houses the brain are quite constrained. Changes in intracranial hemodynamics and hydrodynamics due to intracranial lesions, including brain edema and hematoma, are tightly linked to both brain homeostasis and damage. Miyati et al proposed a noninvasive technique using electrocardiogram (ECG)-synchronized PC-cine MRI to determine intracranial hemo- and hydrodynamic parameters, including the intracranial compliance index (ICCI) and peak-to-peak amplitudes of intracranial volume change (∆ICVC) and the CSF pressure gradient (∆PG) during the cardiac cycle [5]. They demonstrated that both ICCI and ∆ICVC were significantly lower in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus than those in the control

Methods

Results

Conclusion