Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: MR imaging is currently not used to evaluate CSF flow changes due to short-lasting physiological maneuvers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of MR imaging to assess the CSF flow response to a Valsalva maneuver in healthy participants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cardiac-gated fast cine-PC sequence with ≤15-second acquisition time was used to assess CSF flow in 8 healthy participants at the foramen magnum at rest, during, and immediately after a controlled Valsalva maneuver. CSF mean displacement volume V̄CSFduring the cardiac cycle and CSF flow waveform Appwere determined. A work-in-progress real-time pencil-beam imaging method with temporal resolution ≤56 ms was used to scan 2 participants for 90 seconds during which resting, Valsalva, and post-Valsalva CSF flow, respiration, and HR were continuously recorded. Results were qualitatively compared with invasive craniospinal differential pressure measurements from the literature. RESULTS: Both methods showed 1) a decrease from baseline in V̄CSFand Appduring Valsalva and 2) an increase in V̄CSFand A immediately after Valsalva compared with values measured both at rest and during Valsalva. Whereas fast cine-PC produced a single CSF flow waveform that is an average over many cardiac cycles, pencil-beam imaging depicted waveforms for each heartbeat and was able to capture many dynamic features of CSF flow, including transients synchronized with the Valsalva maneuver. CONCLUSIONS: Both fast cine-PC and pencil-beam imaging demonstrated expected changes in CSF flow with Valsalva maneuver in healthy participants. The real-time capability of pencil-beam imaging may be necessary to detect Valsalva-related transient CSF flow obstruction in patients with pathologic conditions such as Chiari I malformation.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1857-1862 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | American Journal of Neuroradiology |
Volume | 34 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2013 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
- Clinical Neurology