Cine-PC MRI In The Evaluation Of Cerebrospinal Fluid Flow In Cerebral Aqueduct

Objective：Flow dynamics of the cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) in Midbrain Aqueductwas examined in normal volunteers and a number of patients with hydrocephalus withMRI phase contrast cine mode(MRI cine PC)．Materials and Methods： There were30of normal volunteers，16ofobstructive hydrocephalus who were scanned with CSF-QF-CLEAR series of cinePhase contrast on a PhilliPsAchieva3.0T X-series MR unit. Periphery gated， cineframes，reduced flap angle(15degrees)， the minimum TR and TE value werechosen．A field-of-view(FOV)of15cm and a slice thickness of4mm were used．Thematrix was always256x179.Velocity encoding was along cranial—caudal direction．12images were taken at difierent points in the cardiac cycle．Magnitude and phasereconstructed images were played in a cosed loop cine format for qualitativeevaluation．The qualitative cine MRI allows a rapid and dramatic evaluation of bothnormal and abnormal patients in a visual form．Quantitative evaluation of CSF flow viaphase reconstruction permits a more precise mapping of the intracranial and intraspinalflow patterns is more sensitive in detecting fluid motion and allows calculation of CSFvelocity and flow volume．The data was transmitted to the computer work station inorder to analyze the rate，velocity and curve of flow of CSF in the cerebral aqueductwith software MR Extended Workspace RZ.6.3. The groups were comparedstatistically.Results: The maps showed that the CSF in the Cerebral aqueduct flowedbi-directionally in cardiac rhythm in control group. There were two types of the flowcurves which like inverted “U” or wave. The control group had28of U-curve and2ofwave-curve，and the hydrocephalus group had1of U-curve and15of wave-curve. Incontrol and hydrocephalus groups the mean cranio-caudal rate of flow of the CSF in the cerebral aqueduct was0.119士0.0797ml/s、0.035士0.024ml/s respectively and themean caudocranialone was―0.138士0.082ml/s、―0.033士0.022ml/s respectively.The mean craniocaudal velocity of the CSF in the cerebral aqueduct was4.107土1.433cm/s、0.550土0.327cm/s respectively and the caudocranialone velocity was―4.727土1.174cm/s、―0.599士0.606cm/s respectively. The difference of rate， velocity offlow of CSF in the cerebral aqueduct in two groups has statistical significance.Conclusion: Cine PC MR capable of demonstrating the rate，velocity and curve of flow of CSF in the cerebral aqueduct， which are different incontrol group and hydrocephalus group.