Quantification of subcortical gray‐matter vascularization using 7 Tesla time‐of‐flight angiography

Brain and Behavior

Mathias Laurig¹  Xinyang Liu³  Michael Wyss²  Anton Gietl¹  Lena Jellestad¹  Roger M. Nitsch¹  Klaas Prüssmann²  Christoph Hock¹ 

[1] Division of Psychiatry Research and Psychogeriatric Medicine, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland;Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich), Zürich, Switzerland;Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

关键词: 7 Tesla;    aging;    cerebrovascular integrity;    high field strength;    MRI;   

DOI  :  10.1002/brb3.154

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Background

The integrity of subcortical brain nuclei is associated with maintenance of regular cognitive performance levels and has been shown to be particularly affected by aging-related vascular pathology. This study aims to demonstrate applicability of high field strength magnetic resonance angiography at 7 Tesla (7T) for assessment of interindividual variation in subcortical vascularization.

Methods

Two healthy female subjects without known history of cerebrovascular disease or malformation, aged 43 and 86 years, respectively, were administered three-dimensional (3D) high-resolution time-of-flight (TOF) magnetic resonance angiography at 7T. The FreeSurfer software package was used for automated parcellation and assessment of subcortical volumes. For each volume, mean regional intensities were calculated based on the TOF contrast as a quantitative reflection of regional subcortical gray-matter vascularization.

Results

While volumes of the subcortical brain region assessed did not differ significantly (30.2 and 27.8 mL, P = 0.78), mean intensities were significantly reduced in the older participant (10%, P = 0.004). Mean intensities could be assessed for each participant for 14 subcortical structures, strongest differences were observable for the left and right Thalamus (T [left, right] = 3.85, 3.82; P [left, right] = 0.002, 0.003).

Conclusions

High-resolution TOF magnetic resonance angiography may be used in combination with automated volume-based parcellation to quantify regional subcortical vascularization and to assess interindividual differences. Additional studies are necessary to assess its potential use in clinical trials on cerebrovascular integrity in a context of aging-related brain change.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.