Fast multiphase MR imaging of aqueductal CSF flow: 1. Study of healthy subjects

Gradient-echo MR sequences are more sensitive to flow phenomena than spin-echo sequences are. We investigated aqueductal CSF flow by fast multiphase imaging. Fast multiphase imaging offers the opportunity to perform a dynamic study of fluid motion that is synchronous with the cardiac cycle. A section perpendicular to the cerebral aqueduct was imaged in 18 healthy volunteers. Serial, gated (every 50 msec from the ECG R wave), flow-compensated modulus images with 70 degrees-flip-angle excitation pulses were obtained with a single acquisition. The behavior vs time of CSF signal in the aqueduct was compared with that in the lateral ventricles. The former showed a peak at 0.47 +/- 0.1 fractions of a heart cycle after the R wave. No periodicity with the heart rate was observed for the ventricular CSF signal intensity. The mean CSF signal intensity in the aqueduct was found to range from about twice to three times that in the lateral ventricles over a cardiac cycle. Fast multiphase imaging is a sensitive and practical sequence for the MR investigation of aqueductal CSF flow. Its potential in patients with hydrocephalus is studied in a companion article.