Measurement of blood flow in the superior sagittal sinus in healthy volunteers, and in patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus and idiopathic intracranial hypertension with phase-contrast cine MR imaging.
OBJECTIVE
To measure blood flow and velocity in the superior sagittal ++sinus.


METHODS
MR velocity mapping was used to examine 14 healthy volunteers, 15 patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), 3 patients with high pressure hydrocephalus (HPH), and 11 patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH).


RESULTS
Mean blood flow was 443 ml/min in healthy volunteers with a tendency towards reduced blood flow with increasing age. In NPH patients significantly lower superior sagittal sinus blood flow values were found, but this difference was no longer significant when patients and controls were matched for age. In HPH and IIH patients blood flow and velocity were within the normal range. In one patient with thrombosis of the superior sagittal sinus the blood flow was reduced to 40 ml/min.


CONCLUSIONS
MR velocity mapping methods may be of value in the assessment of blood flow in the dural sinuses in various pathologies resulting in dural sinus occlusion, such as dural sinus thrombosis, and for following the progress of these patients while undergoing treatment.
Gideon
P
P
Danish Research Centre of Magnetic Resonance, Hvidovre Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Thomsen
C
C
Gjerris
F
F
Sørensen
P S
PS
Ståhlberg
F
F
Henriksen
O
O
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D003392:Cranial Sinuses; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000175:diagnosis; D006850:Hydrocephalus, Normal Pressure / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011559:Pseudotumor Cerebri / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012851:Sinus Thrombosis, Intracranial / Q000175:diagnosis