Abstract #2109

The Precision of ASL in Measuring Cerebrovascular Reactivity in Cardiovascular Disease Patients.

U. C. Anazodo^1,2, N. Suskin³, J. Wang⁴, J. K. Shoemaker⁵, K. St Lawrence^1,2

¹Lawson Health Research Institute, St Josephs Health Care, London, Ontario, Canada; ²Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; ³London Health Science Cardiology Rehabilitation Program, London, Ontario, Canada; ⁴Department of Neurology, UCLA, Almanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States; ⁵Neurovascular Research Laboratory, School of Kinesiology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada

Recent evidence suggests that in cardiovascular disease patients, aerobic fitness can decrease the adverse effect of the disease on cognitive function and improve cerebrovascular health. A relative marker of cerebrovascular health is the measure of the brains response to change in arterial CO2 tension, known as cerebrovascular reactivity. In this study, the reproducibility of arterial spin labeling in assessment of cerebrovascular reactivity in cardiovascular disease patient is investigated. Our results demonstrate that the variation between repeated measures is minimal and, as such will not compromise further intra-subject comparisons on fitness effects.