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Abstract #0512

Pulsed Arterial Spin Labeling Perfusion MRI Correlates with Clinical Severity in Patients with Vertebrobasilar Artery Stenoses

Bradley J. MacIntosh1,2, Lars Marquardt3, Ursula G. Schulz3, Peter M. Rothwell3, Peter Jezzard2

1Imaging & Brain Sciences, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada; 2Clinical Neurology, FMRIB Centre, Oxford, OXON, United Kingdom; 3Clinical Neurology, Stroke Prevention Research Unit, Oxford, OXON, United Kingdom


Arterial spin labeling is a versatile perfusion MRI technique and recent studies have shown clinical merit. One clinical arena that is under-investigated is perfusion profiles in patients with vertebral or basilar artery (VBA) stenosis. The arrival of the magnetic spin tracer is expected to be delayed in these patients therefore a multiple inflow 3D-GRASE-PASL implementation is used to estimate cerebral blood flow (CBF) and the arterial arrival time (AAT). Patients with presumed severe VBA disease (N=4), on the basis of their clinical history, showed significantly prolonged AAT (P<0.01) and reduced CBF (P=0.08) when compared to patient with presumed no VBA disease (N=10).