Abstract
Purpose: To measure cerebral blood flow (CBF) using Look-Locker arterial spin labeling (ASL) in children under 1 year of age and to investigate the advantages of using subject-specific estimates of ASL model parameters in this population. Materials and Methods: Of 12 scanned infants, we successfully acquired CBF maps in 7 (postmenstrual age: 32 to 78 weeks) using a Look-Locker ASL scheme and both adult literature-derived and subject-specific model parameters. ASL global CBF measurements were compared with independent global CBF measurements obtained in the same scanning session using phase-contrast angiography. Results: Measured global CBF values ranged from 24 to 56 mL/100g/min in the scanned infants, increasing significantly with postmenstrual age (ρSpearman = 0.89, P-value = 0.01). Using subject-specific model parameters yielded CBF estimates in significantly better agreement with phase-contrast angiography values (P-value: 0.80) than when standard adult parameters were used (P-value: 0.04). Conclusion: Look-Locker ASL can be used to measure CBF in infants and its accuracy is improved with the use of infant-specific auxiliary parameters, particularly blood and tissue T1, which were much more variable in the imaged infants in than adults.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1591-1600 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
Volume | 41 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1 2015 |
Keywords
- Cerebral perfusion measurements
- blood flow quantification
- magnetic resonance imaging
- neonatal imaging
- pediatric neurology and hemodynamics
- phase contrast angiography
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging