title: Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling quantifies cerebral blood flow in patients with acute ischemic stroke and chronic lacunar stroke.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We employed non-invasive pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) to quantify cerebral blood flow (CBF) in infarcted and nearby neural regions in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and chronic lacunar stroke (CLS). The results were compared with CBF in healthy individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  AIS and CLS patients were imaged with ASL, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and conventional MRI. CBF maps were created with 3DASL software. Two expert readers identified AIS and CLS lesions on conventional images, DWI images and CBF maps. A senior radiologist calculated CBF values for lesions and nearby regions. Lesion, nearby regions and normal corresponding region values were analyzed using a two-sample t-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-six stroke patients (21 with AIS and 35 with CLS) and 30 healthy subjects participated in this study. In the AIS group, AIS lesions appeared in the cortex/white matter, external/internal capsule (EC/IC), and basal ganglia. AIS lesions had lower CBF values than the normal corresponding regions (p<0.05). The mean CBF values in AIS nearby regions were significantly higher than those in normal corresponding regions (p<0.05). In the CLS group, the CBF values in white matter and EC/IC were lower than the CBF values in normal corresponding regions (p=0.063 and 0.052, respectively). The CBF values in CLS nearby regions and normal corresponding regions were not significantly different (p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In some regions of the brain, CLS lesions, AIS lesions, and their nearby regions have different perfusion statuses. In particular, the AIS nearby regions perfusion in our subjects was significantly higher than that previously reported. pCASL can be a robust imaging technique for diagnosing strokes in clinical practices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China; Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: LingFei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Jinan Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shandong, PR China.
authors.forename: Qun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hiser Hospital of Qingdao, Shandong, PR China.
authors.forename: Chuanwu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan, PR China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China. Electronic address: lkc1955@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Kuncheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013113:Spin Labels; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D013113:Spin Labels
keywords: Arterial spin labeling; Cerebral blood flow; Magnetic resonance imaging; Perfusion; Stroke