Phase contrast MR imaging measurements of blood flow in healthy human cerebral vessel segments

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Phase contrast (PC) magnetic resonance imaging was used to obtain velocity measurements in 30 healthy subjects to provide an assessment of hemodynamic parameters in cerebral vessels. We expect a lower coefficient-of-variation (COV) of the volume flow rate (VFR) compared to peak velocity (vpeak) measurements and the COV to increase in smaller caliber arteries compared to large arteries.PC velocity maps were processed to calculate vpeak and VFR in 26 vessel segments. The mean, standard deviation and COV, of vpeak and VFR in each segment were calculated. A bootstrap-style analysis was used to determine the minimum number of subjects required to accurately represent the population. Significance of vpeak and VFR asymmetry was assessed in 10 vessel pairs.The bootstrap analysis suggested that averaging more than 20 subjects would give consistent results. When averaged over the subjects, vpeak and VFR ranged from 5.2 ± 7.1 cm s−1, 0.41 ± 0.58 ml s−1 (in the anterior communicating artery; mean ± standard deviation) to 73 ± 23 cm s−1, 7.6 ± 1.7 ml s−1 (in the left internal carotid artery), respectively. A tendency for VFR to be higher in the left hemisphere was observed in 88.8% of artery pairs, while the VFR in the right transverse sinus was larger. The VFR COV was larger than vpeak COV in 57.7% of segments, while smaller vessels had higher COV.Significance and potential impact: VFR COV was not generally higher than vpeak COV. COV was higher in smaller vessels as expected. These summarized values provide a base against which vpeak and VFR in various disease states can be compared.