Renee Qian1, Parmede Vakil1, Michael C. Hurley2, Sameer A. Ansari2, Christina Sammet2, Jessy Mouannes-Srour2, H. Hunt Batjer3, Bernard R. Bendok3, Timothy J. Carroll1, 2
1Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States; 2Neuroradiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States; 3Neurosurgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
Cerebrovascular reserve (CVR) measures the autoregulatory dilatation of intracranial vessels in the setting of ischemic pathologies. Quantitative cerebral blood flow scans prior to and 10 after acetazolamide injection in patients were retrospectively acquired. Healthy volunteers without Diamox injection were used as controls. QCVR was calculated as the percentage change between the two scans. We found that quantification of CVR is possible in MRI with ACZ challenge. We proposed an index correlating with the presence of hemodynamic compromise resulting from neurovascular disease. Assigning a quantitative CVR score has the potential to track longitudinal changes in hemodynamic status in response to therapy.