Abstract #0623

Comparison of Vessel-Encoded Arterial Spin Labeling Dynamic Angiography with X-Ray Digital Subtraction Angiography in Patients with Vertebrobasilar Disease

Thomas W. Okell¹, Ursula G. Schulz², Michael A. Chappell,¹³, Meritxell Garcia⁴, Wilhelm Kker², Peter Jezzard¹

¹FMRIB Centre, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; ²Stroke Prevention Research Unit, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; ³IBME, Department of Engineering, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; ⁴Division of Diagnostic & Interventional Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University of Basel Hospital, Basel, Switzerland

Vessel-encoded pseudocontinuous arterial spin labelling (VEPCASL) dynamic angiography provides vessel-selective information similar to x-ray digital subtraction angiography (DSA) non-invasively and without contrast agent. Two interventional neuroradiologists performed scoring of images from the two modalities in patients with vertebrobasilar disease. Reasonable agreement was found for the assessment of collateral flow, proximal artery flow and late filling and good agreement for assessing vertebral artery dominance. Some variation in the scores was present due to the subjective nature of the scoring, but x-ray DSA may have overestimated flow in stenosed vessels during the contrast injection due to the applied pressure.