title: The spatial coefficient of variation in arterial spin labeling cerebral blood flow images.
abstract: Macro-vascular artifacts are a common arterial spin labeling (ASL) finding in populations with prolonged arterial transit time (ATT) and result in vascular regions with spuriously increased cerebral blood flow (CBF) and tissue regions with spuriously decreased CBF. This study investigates whether there is an association between the spatial signal distribution of a single post-label delay ASL CBF image and ATT. In 186 elderly with hypertension (46% male, 77.4 ± 2.5 years), we evaluated associations between the spatial coefficient of variation (CoV) of a CBF image and ATT. The spatial CoV and ATT metrics were subsequently evaluated with respect to their associations with age and sex - two demographics known to influence perfusion. Bland-Altman plots showed that spatial CoV predicted ATT with a maximum relative error of 7.6%. Spatial CoV was associated with age (β = 0.163, p = 0.028) and sex (β = -0.204, p = 0.004). The spatial distribution of the ASL signal on a standard CBF image can be used to infer between-participant ATT differences. In the absence of ATT mapping, the spatial CoV may be useful for the clinical interpretation of ASL in patients with cerebrovascular pathology that leads to prolonged transit of the ASL signal to tissue.
authors.affiliation: 1 Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.|2 Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Henri Jmm
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Mutsaerts
authors.affiliation: 3 PET Center, Institute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petr
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Václavů
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: van Dalen
authors.affiliation: 1 Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Matthan W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Caan
authors.affiliation: 1 Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masellis
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aart J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Nederveen
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Neurology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.|5 Department of Neurology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Edo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.affiliation: 1 Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Bradley J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: MacIntosh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D002533:Cerebral Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013113:Spin Labels
chemical_list: D013113:Spin Labels
keywords: ASL; Arterial spin labeling; cerebral blood flow; cerebral hemodynamics; perfusion weighted MRI