Perfusion imaging of cerebral arteriovenous malformations: a study comparing quantitative continuous arterial spin labeling and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T

Assessment of hemodynamics in arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) is important for estimating the risk of bleeding as well as planning and monitoring therapy. In tissues with perfusion values significantly higher than cerebral cortex, continuous arterial spin labeling (CASL) permits both adequate representation and quantification of perfusion. Thirteen patients who had cerebral AVMs were examined with two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques: perfusion imaging using a CASL technique with two delay times, 800 and 1200 ms, and T-2-weighted dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (T-2-DCE-MRI). The signal-to-noise ratio obtained in our study with the CASL technique at 3 T was sufficient to estimate perfusion in gray matter. Both nidal and venous perfusion turned out larger by factors of 1.71 +/- 2.01 and 2.48 +/- 1.51 in comparison to T-2-DCE-MRI when using CASL at delay times of 800 and 1200 ms, respectively. Moreover, the venous and nidal perfusion values of the AVMs measured at T-2-DCE-MRI did not correlate with those observed at CASL. Evaluation of average perfusion values yielded significantly different results when using a shorter versus a longer delay time. Average gray matter perfusion was 15.8% larger when measured at delay times of w=800 ms versus w=1200 ms, while nidal perfusion was 15.7% larger and venous perfusion was 34.6% larger, respectively. In conclusion, the extremely high perfusion within an AVM could be successfully quantified using CASL. A shorter postlabeling delay time of w=800 ms seems to be more appropriate than a longer time of w=1200 ms because of possible inflow of unlabeled spins at the latter. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.