Meritxell Garcia1,
2, Monika Gloor3, Michael A. Chappell4, 5,
Peter Jezzard6, James V. Byrne2, Oliver Bieri3,
Thomas W. Okell6
1Division
of Diagnostic & Interventional Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology,
Clinic of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University of Basel Hospital,
Basel, Switzerland; 2Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences and
Department of Neuroradiology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; 3Division
of Radiological Physics, Department of Medical Radiology, University of Basel
Hospital, Basel, Switzerland; 4Institute of Biomedical
Engineering, Department of Engineering, University of Oxford, Oxford, United
Kingdom; 5Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the
Brain, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; 6Centre for
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
The efficacy of quantitative Vessel-Encoded Pseudocontinuous Arterial Spin Labelling (VEPCASL) in the assessment of regional perfusion alterations in arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) was analysed. VEPCASL perfusion was compared with Dynamic Susceptibility Contrast MRI (DSC-MRI). The lack of a need for contrast agent, lower data variation, and absent sensitivity to distortion artefacts makes ASL superior to DSC-MRI for perfusion assessment in AVMs. The ability to label different vascular territories separately with VEPCASL may be of significant use in the determination of perfusion normalisation between treatment stages. Different perfusion patterns in different AVM subtypes can be explained by differences in abnormal vessel composition.
Keywords