Demonstration of velocity selective myocardial arterial spin labeling perfusion imaging in humans

Transit delay is a potential source of error in cardiac arterial spin-labeled (ASL) in heart failure or with collateral circulation. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using transit delay insensitive velocity selective ASL and compares its performance with flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) ASL.

Velocity selective labeling was achieved using an adiabatic BIR8 preparation. FAIR and velocity-selective ASL (VSASL) with various velocity cutoffs (V_C  = 10-40 cm/s) and labeling directions (anterior-posterior X, lateral-septal Y, and apical-basal Z) were carried out in 10 healthy volunteers (1F/9M age 23-30 y). Myocardial blood flow (MBF) and temporal signal-to-noise (TSNR) were measured.

VSASL sensitivity to perfusion decreased with increasing V_C . At low V_C (<5 cm/s), spurious labeling of myocardium occurs and overestimates MBF. MBF measured with FAIR (1.12 ± 0.26 ml/g/min) and VASL (1.26 ± 0.27 ml/g/min) at V_C of 10 cm/s in Z were comparable (TOST with difference of 0.30 ml/g/min, P = 0.049). TSNR was 2.8 times larger using FAIR (13.62 ± 5.25) than in VSASL (4.87 ± 1.58). VSASL was insensitive to perfusion in the Y direction. X and Z performed similarly with TSNR of 4.17 ± 2.32 and 3.97 ± 0.56, respectively.

VSASL is a promising alternative to FAIR ASL in the heart and is well suited for scenarios when transit delays are long. Magn Reson Med 80:272-278, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.