Abstract #4034

Phase-Contrast MRI for Quantifying Cerebrospinal Flow in Patients with Shunted Hydrocephalus

Joseph Ha¹, Eamon K Doyle, PhD^2,3,4, Matthew T. Borzage, PhD^3,5, and Peter A Chiarelli, MD, DPhil^1,3,4

¹Division of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Radiology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ³Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁴Shared last author, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁵Fetal and Neonatal Institute, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Synopsis

We investigate a new approach to assess ventricular shunt function using phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC MRI). A flow phantom was constructed to assess CSF flows between 0-24 ml/hour. The PC MRI sequence showed strong flow correlation (R2 = .9671) even for flow velocities below 1 cm/s. The lowest non-zero CSF flow we measured was 1 ml/hour (0.02 cm/s), 67% lower than previously reported shunt flow measurements. The sequence was tested in a human subject after phantom calibration. With a 96 second duration, PC SHUNT shows promise as a practical means for determining shunt failure clinically.

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