[Evaluation of cerebral blood circulation using fast magnetic resonance imaging (turbo-FLASH)].
In its initial stage of development, poor time resolution was supposed to be inevitable for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The development of the gradient echo technique, however, has made an opening for a breakthrough to a fast MRI technique. However, conventional gradient echo technique is not fast enough to disclose the cerebral blood circulation. A new technique (turbo-FLASH), which combines gradient echo and preparation pulse, has opened the door to a true dynamic (high time resolution) MRI. The authors performed a basic study of this new fast imaging technique (Turbo-FLASH) for the evaluation of cerebral blood circulation. Using this dynamic MRI, the conventional Gd-DTPA administration (0.1mmol/kg, intravenous manual administration) has produced sufficient contrast to reveal a difference of the extent of enhancement between normal gray matter and white matter. In patients of cerebral infarction, the infarcted brain does not show any significant increase of signal intensity after the administration of contrast medium, whereas the normal brain shows a sharp increase of signal intensity after the administration of contrast medium. Indeed, many puzzling questions remain to be solved for clinical application of this new dynamic MRI. For example, the optimal quantity of contrast medium and optimal parameters for this sequence (T1 weighted or T2 weighted?) are still unknown. But, in any case, this dynamic MRI is expected to be a clinically powerful tool for the evaluation of cerebral blood flow.
Houkin
K
K
Department of Neurosurgery, Hokkaido University School of Medicine.
Kamiyama
H
H
Iwasaki
Y
Y
Abe
H
H
Miyasaka
K
K
Koiwa
M
M
Kashiwaba
T
T
D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging
D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA