In Vivo 4D Visualization of CSF Flow: Healthy Volunteers and Hydrocephalus

Francesco Santini¹, Tilman Schubert², Klaus Scheffler¹, Stephan G. Wetzel²

Three-directional time-resolved measurements of cerebro-spinal fluid flow patterns, possible thanks to a custom balanced steady-state free precession phase-contrast sequence, offer new possibilities in the study of diseases like hydrocephalus or Chiari malformation. In this work, flow patterns in the third ventricle acquired in healthy volunteers are compared to a dataset acquired in a patient suffering from a long-standing three-ventricular hydrocephalus. Significant differences are found, and, in the pathological case, the flow measurement proved the existance of an inner shunt through the floor of the third ventricle, not visible by standard anatomical imaging.