MRI Study of ASL, MRS and BOLD in Patients with Left Symptomatic Internal Carotid Artery

Jie Lu¹, KunCheng Li¹, Miao Zhang, XiaoYi Wang

Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) can quantitatively measure perfusion without the need of contrast material. 1H spectroscopy (1H-MRS) can identify cerebral abnormal metabolism. Patients with symptomatic occlusion of the internal carotid artery (ICA) with compromised cerebral blood flow (CBF) and decrease N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) are at risk for future ischemic infarcts. These patients can have different degree of cognitive impairment, especially working memory impairment2. Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) is best used for studying processes that can be rapidly turned on and off like memory. In this study, we characterized CBF, MRS and BOLD changes in patients with symptomatic ICA occlusion.