Abstract #0686

Mapping water exchange across the blood-brain barrier using three-dimensional diffusion-prepared arterial spin labeled perfusion MRI

Xingfeng Shao¹, Samantha J Ma¹, Marlene Casey¹, Lina D’Orazio², John M Ringman², and Danny J.J. Wang^1,2

¹Laboratory of FMRI Technology (LOFT), Mark & Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

We present a novel pulse sequence and modeling algorithm to quantify the water exchange rate (kw) across the BBB without contrast, and to evaluate its clinical utility in a cohort of elderly subjects at risk of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). A diffusion preparation module was integrated with pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) with background suppressed 3D GRASE readout. The results showed good reproducibility of kw measurements (ICC=0.75) in elderly subjects with repeated scans ~2 weeks apart. Average kw was increased in subjects with diabetes and hypercholesterolemia, and was correlated with vascular risk factors, cognitive function and white matter hyperintensities.

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