Rajesh Kumar1, Mary A. Woo2, Danny JJ Wang3, Paul M. Macey2, Jennifer A. Ogren2, Gregg C. Fonarow4, Ronald M. Harper1
1Neurobiology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; 2UCLA School of Nursing, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; 3Neurology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; 4Cardiology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Heart failure (HF) patients show brain injury in autonomic, neuropsychological, and cognitive regulatory sites, possibly resulting from localized hemodynamic alterations; however, regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) activity in those areas is unknown. We used non-invasive arterial spin labeling (ASL) procedures to assess regional CBF changes in HF subjects over controls. Multiple localized brain sites in HF, including frontal, parietal, and temporal regions, basal-ganglia, limbic, brainstem, and cerebellar areas showed reduced CBF, compared to controls. Regionally reduced CBF may stem from initial injury to midline medullary raphe regulatory sites, which cascades to modify vascular supply to more-rostral and cerebellar areas.