Imaging and Anesthesia Protocol Optimization in Sedated Clinical Resting-State fMRI.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Anesthesiology
• Radiology

Background:

• Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) quality under anesthesia is inconsistent.
• Lack of guidelines for optimal rs-fMRI acquisition and anesthesia protocols.
• Need to identify factors compromising clinical rs-fMRI quality under anesthesia.

Purpose of the Study:

• Identify factors influencing the quality of clinical resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) acquired under anesthesia.
• Determine the impact of anesthesia type on the robustness of resting-state networks (RSNs).

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional analysis of clinical rs-fMRI data (2009-2023).
• Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of resting-state networks (RSNs) using independent component analysis.
• Logistic regression to assess predictors of RSN robustness, including anesthesia, acquisition parameters, and patient factors.

Main Results:

• Sevoflurane significantly reduced the odds of robust RSNs across overall, motor-language, and individual motor networks.
• Reduced RSN robustness was observed in 29/69 overall and 24/69 motor-language networks.
• No association found between MR acquisition technique or structural abnormalities and RSN robustness.

Conclusions:

• Sevoflurane anesthesia may compromise rs-fMRI RSN visibility, particularly motor networks.
• Anesthesia type is a critical determinant of rs-fMRI quality.
• MR acquisition parameters and structural abnormalities did not significantly affect RSN robustness in this study.