Quantitative Assessment of Cerebral Hemodynamics Using Perfusion-Weighted MRI in Patients With Major Cerebral Artery Occlusive Disease Comparison With Positron Emission Tomography

Background and Purpose— Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) to acetazolamide is a key parameter in determining the severity of hemodynamic impairment in patients with major cerebral artery occlusive disease. Perfusion-weighted MRI (PW MRI) can measure the cerebral blood volume (CBV) as an indicator of hemodynamic impairment. CBV measured by PW MRI was compared with CVR measured by positron emission tomography (PET). Methods— Twelve normal subjects and 17 patients with major cerebral artery occlusive disease underwent PW MRI and PET. The images were coregistered with 3-dimensional spoiled gradient-recalled acquisition images. Quantitative PW MRI-CBV maps were generated using the indicator dilution method with arterial input function. One large cortical region of interest for each unilateral middle cerebral artery territory was determined on each image. PET-CVR was calculated by measuring cerebral blood flow before and after acetazolamide challenge. Results— A significant negative correlation was observed betw...