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Updated: Apr 16, 2026
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Quantification of Pulmonary Perfusion using Calibrated Arterial Spin Labeling
Published on: May 30, 2011
Arterial and portal venous liver perfusion using selective spin labelling MRI
Hanke J Schalkx1, Esben T Petersen, Nicky H G M Peters
1Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, HP E.01.132, Postbus 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands, h.schalkx@gmail.com.
Purpose:
To investigate the feasibility of selective arterial and portal venous liver perfusion imaging with spin labelling (SL) MRI, allowing separate labelling of each blood supply.
Methods:
The portal venous perfusion was assessed with a pulsed EPISTAR technique and the arterial perfusion with a pseudo-continuous sequence. To explore precision and reproducibility, portal venous and arterial perfusion were separately quantified in 12 healthy volunteers pre- and postprandially (before and after meal intake). In a subgroup of 6 volunteers, the accuracy of the absolute portal perfusion and its relative postprandial change were compared with MRI flow measurements of the portal vein.
Results:
The portal venous perfusion significantly increased from 63 ± 22 ml/100g/min preprandially to 132 ± 42 ml/100g/min postprandially. The arterial perfusion was lower with 35 ± 22 preprandially and 22 ± 30 ml/100g/min postprandially. The pre- and postprandial portal perfusion using SL correlated well with flow-based perfusion (r(2) = 0.71). Moreover, postprandial perfusion change correlated well between SL- and flow-based quantification (r(2) = 0.77). The SL results are in range with literature values.
Conclusion:
Selective spin labelling MRI of the portal venous and arterial blood supply successfully quantified liver perfusion. This non-invasive technique provides specific arterial and portal venous perfusion imaging and could benefit clinical settings where contrast agents are contraindicated.
Key Points:
• Perfusion imaging of the liver by Spin Labelling MRI is feasible • Selective Spin Labelling MRI assessed portal venous and arterial liver perfusion separately • Spin Labelling based portal venous liver perfusion showed significant postprandial increase • Spin Labelling based portal perfusion correlated well with phase-contrast based portal perfusion • This non-invasive technique could benefit settings where contrast agents are contraindicated.
