Assessing intracranial vascular compliance using dynamic arterial spin labeling

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Medical Physics

Background:

• Vascular compliance (VC) is crucial for cardiovascular health and dementia assessment.
• Current methods for measuring intracranial VC are limited.
• Central and peripheral VC are typically assessed indirectly via pulse wave velocity (PWV) or pulse pressure waveform.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel MRI technique for in-vivo assessment of intracranial vascular compliance (VC).
• To evaluate intracranial VC in different vascular components.
• To investigate the relationship between intracranial VC, aging, cerebral perfusion, and central VC.

Main Methods:

• Dynamic arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI synchronized with cardiac phases.
• Quantification of intracranial VC as the ratio of change in arterial cerebral blood volume (ΔCBV) to change in arterial pressure (ΔBP).
• Comparison between young and elderly subjects; correlation with pseudo-continuous ASL and 1D projection PWV.

Main Results:

• Intracranial VC is highest in large arteries and decreases in smaller vessels.
• Aging is associated with reduced intracranial VC.
• Intracranial VC positively correlates with cerebral perfusion and central VC.

Conclusions:

• The novel dynamic ASL MRI technique enables in-vivo assessment of intracranial VC.
• Reduced intracranial VC is linked to aging and diminished cerebral perfusion.
• This method shows promise for evaluating cardiovascular diseases and dementia.