Quantification of pulsatile cerebrospinal fluid flow within the prepontine cistern.
BACKGROUND
Phase-contrast MRI (PC-MRI) has previously been used for the quantification of CSF and blood flow throughout the body. We propose a new method of semi-automated segmentation for the prepontine cistern based on anatomical and pulsatility information.


METHODS
Scans were conducted on 48 patients (69.83 ± 14.28 years) ranging in age from 32 to 88 years along with an additional 11 controls (51.91 ± 21.13 years) ranging in age from 22 to 72 years. The segmentation algorithm developed consists of four stages: anatomical, flow quantification for the aqueduct and prepontine cistern, and blood vessel detection.


RESULTS
Complete results are presented in Table 1, the 37 preoperative patients and controls had a prepontine cistern stroke volume of 464.32 ± 202.30 and 447.38 ± 75.49 respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Reliable quantification of volumetric CSF flow in complex cisternal spaces is possible using a methodology combining known anatomical features with the pulsatile nature of CSF flow.
Department of Neurosurgery, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Robert
R
Hamilton
Justin
J
Dye
Andrew
A
Frew
Kevin
K
Baldwin
Xiao
X
Hu
Marvin
M
Bergsneider
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D002535:Cerebral Aqueduct / Q000503:physiopathology; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011149:Pons / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011673:Pulsatile Flow / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013318:Stroke Volume; D055815:Young Adult