Heterogeneous increases of regional cerebral blood flow during preterm brain development: Preliminary assessment with pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeled perfusion MRI.

ABSTRACT: The human brain develops rapidly during 32-45 postmenstrual weeks (PMW), a critical stage characterized by dramatic increases of metabolic demand. The increasing metabolic demand can be inferred through measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (CBF), which might be coupled to regional metabolism in preterm brains. Arterial spin labeled (ASL) perfusion MRI is one of the few viable approaches for imaging regional CBF of preterm brains, but must be optimized for the extremely slow blood velocity unique in preterm brains. In this study, we explored the spatiotemporal CBF distribution in newborns scanned at the age of 32-45PMW using a pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) protocol adapted to slow blood flow in neonates. A total of 89 neonates were recruited. PCASL MRI was acquired from 34 normal ne

SUBMITTER: Ouyang M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5303673 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature