Abstract
To evaluate cerebral microperfusion with spin echo T_2-weighted imaging, we performed T_2 dynamic MR imaging using half-Fourier acquisition with the single-shot turbo spin-echo (HASTE) sequence on a commercially available 1.0 Tesla whole body imaging system. Ten patients with cerebral vascular disease and ten normal control subjects were studied. For T_2 dynamic perfusion imaging, the HASTE sequence (TR/TE, 3000/87msec; FOV 210mm; slice thickness, 10mm; matrix size, 128h×256; one excitation) was used to acquire 30 consecutive images after the injection of Gd-DTPA (0.15mmol/kg) during 90 sec. All relative regional cerebral blood volume (rrCBV) maps showed good differentiation of gray and white matter without image degradation from the large veins and arteries in the cerebral surface. For the normal control subjects, the rrCBV ratio of the gray-white matter was 1.5±0.4. The signal reduction ratio (SRR) of the normal gray matter was significantly larger than that of the ischemic gray matter (p<0.05, df=34, two-sample t-test). In all patients, perfusion defect was detected in the core of infarction on the rrCBV map. The border zone showed delayed perfusion in three patients with major cerebral artery occlusion in dynamic T_2 relaxivity (ΔR_2) images. We could perform cerebral microperfusion imaging with T_2 dynamic MR imaging using the HASTE sequence on a clinically available 1.0 Tesla whole body MR system.
