Velocity measurements in the middle cerebral arteries of healthy volunteers using 3D radial phase-contrast HYPRFlow: comparison with transcranial Doppler sonography and 2D phase-contrast MR imaging.
OBJECTIVE
We have developed PC HYPRFlow, a comprehensive MRA technique that includes a whole-brain CE dynamic series followed by PC velocity-encoding, yielding a time series of high-resolution morphologic angiograms with associated velocity information. In this study, we present velocity data acquired by using the PC component of PC HYPRFlow (PC-VIPR).


METHODS
Ten healthy volunteers (6 women, 4 men) were scanned by using PC HYPRFlow and 2D-PC imaging, immediately followed by velocity measurements by using TCD. Velocity measurements were made in the M1 segments of the MCAs from the PC-VIPR, 2D-PC, and TCD examinations.


RESULTS
PC-VIPR showed approximately 30% lower mean velocity compared with TCD, consistent with other comparisons of TCD with PC-MRA. The correlation with TCD was r = 0.793, and the correlation of PC-VIPR with 2D-PC was r = 0.723.


CONCLUSIONS
PC-VIPR is a technique capable of acquiring high-resolution MRA of diagnostic quality with velocity data comparable with TCD and 2D-PC. The combination of velocity information and fast high-resolution whole-brain morphologic angiograms makes PC HYPRFlow an attractive alternative to current MRA methods.
Chang
W
W
Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. wmchang2@wisc.edu
Landgraf
B
B
Johnson
K M
KM
Kecskemeti
S
S
Wu
Y
Y
Velikina
J
J
Rowley
H
H
Wieben
O
O
Mistretta
C
C
Turski
P
P
D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D020768:Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial