Velocity and flow quantitation in the superior sagittal sinus with ungated and cine (gated) phase-contrast MR imaging

Normal blood flow and velocity in the superior sagittal sinus were measured in 30 patients. A fast two-dimensional ungated phase-contrast (PC) pulse sequence was compared with a peripherally gated cine PC technique for velocity and flow quantitation. The same imaging parameters were used for both methods. Measured values for mean velocity and flow obtained with the two methods were compared by using regression analysis and t testing. For blood flow, the correlation coefficient was .976. For velocity measurements, r was .950. Mean flow was 285 mL/min +/- 19 with the ungated PC method and 281 mL/min +/- 19 with the cine PC method. The mean velocities measured with the two methods were 12.94 cm/sec +/- 1.1 and 13.59 cm/sec +/- 1.1, respectively. There was no significant difference (paired t test) between the methods for mean flow or velocity data. This was true even though flow in the superior sagittal sinus is moderately pulsatile, as shown with the cine PC technique. The ungated PC method provided these data in 13 seconds versus 3.5 minutes for the cine PC method.