Perfusion-related parameters in intravoxel incoherent motion MR imaging compared with CBV and CBF measured by dynamic susceptibility-contrast MR technique.
OBJECTIVE
Perfusion-related parameters obtained by intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) MR imaging (MRI) were compared with cerebral blood volume and flow (CBV and CBF), retrieved by dynamic susceptibility-contrast (DSC) MRI.


METHODS
Twenty-eight volunteers (average age 68.5 years) were investigated. Spin-echo echo-planar imaging with IVIM-encoding gradients was employed (36 different b values, 0-1200 s/mm2). The perfusion fraction and the pseudo-diffusion coefficient were calculated for regions in thalamus gray matter and frontal white matter, using asymptotic and full fitting. In DSC-MRI, a Gd-DTPA-BMA contrast-agent bolus was monitored using simultaneous-dual FLASH. Deconvolution of the measured tissue concentration-versus-time curve with an arterial input function from the carotid artery was applied, and maps of CBV and CBF were calculated.


RESULTS
The correlation between the perfusion fraction and CBV was r=0.56 (p<0.0000006) using asymptotic fitting, and r=0.35 (p<0.0004) when full fitting was applied. Average CBF was 41.5 ml/(min 100 g), to be compared with the IVIM-based value of 63.6 ml/(min 100 g), obtained from the median value of the pseudo-diffusion coefficient in combination with assumptions about capillary network structure.


CONCLUSIONS
The IVIM concept provided results that agreed reasonably with conventional CBV and CBF. The non-linear fitting to noisy signal data was problematic, in accordance with previously presented simulations.
Department of Radiation Physics, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
R
R
Wirestam
M
M
Borg
S
S
Brockstedt
A
A
Lindgren
S
S
Holtås
F
F
Ståhlberg
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular