title: Variation in supratentorial cerebrospinal fluid production rate in one day: measurement by nontriggered phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Measuring the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production rate is important for understanding the physiology related to normal conditions and neurological disorders. Triggered phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used to measure CSF production rate, but the use of nontriggered phase-contrast MRI has not been reported. The purposes of this study were to assess the feasibility of using nontriggered phase-contrast MRI to measure CSF flow and to determine whether CSF production exhibits circadian rhythm.
  
  
  METHODS
  The feasibility of phase-contrast MRI was assessed with a phantom simulated human cerebral aqueduct. CSF flow through the cerebral aqueduct was measured with nontriggered phase-contrast MRI four times during 1 day in 10 normal volunteers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the phantom study, linear regression analysis gave the following measured values (ml/h): 0.80 × (value of steady flow) - 10.0 for triggered phase-contrast MRI and 1.27 × (value of steady flow) - 12.2 for nontriggered phase-contrast MRI. One-factor analysis of variance showed no significant effect of the time of the measurements (P = 0.47). The supratentorial CSF production rate was 510 ± 549 ml/day (mean ± SD).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nontriggered phase-contrast MRI provided good estimates of the flow rate in the phantom study. We observed no circadian rhythm in CSF production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan. h-takahashi@radiol.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Norihiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Kenya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murase
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tomiyama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002535:Cerebral Aqueduct / Q000378:metabolism; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging