Reliability of cerebral vein volume quantification based on susceptibility-weighted imaging

Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) visualizes even small cerebral veins and might, therefore, be valuable in monitoring neurological diseases affecting cerebral veins. Since it is generally difficult to evaluate individual results of quantitative MRI measurements, an automatic approach would be highly appreciated to assist the diagnostic process. The aim of this study was to evaluate the rescan and reanalysis reliability using an automatic venous volumetric approach based on SWI in healthy controls.

SWI was performed in ten healthy controls undergoing MRI examinations using a 32-channel head coil at 3 T five times on five different days. To test for rescan and reanalysis variability, the deep cerebral vein volume was quantified using ANTs and SPM8.

Total volumes of cerebral deep veins measured during five MRI scans in ten individuals (n = 50 scans) showed intra-individual volume changes ranging from 0.07 to 1.03 ml (mean variability = 10.2 %). Automatic reanalyses revealed exactly the same results in all scans.

Automatic SWI-based cerebral vein volumetry shows acceptable rescan-and excellent reanalyses-reliability in healthy volunteers. Therefore, this approach might be beneficial in intra-individual follow-up studies of neurological diseases affecting the cerebral venous system.