Chronic liver disease is associated with profound changes in the dual portal venous (PV) and hepaticarterial (HA) blood supply to the liver. Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) canmeasure hepatic blood non-invasively and separate PV and HA contributions, however quantification is directly proportional to the labeling efficiency (alpha), and can therefore significantly affect overall quantification. This study estimates alpha for the PV, descending aorta (DA) and HA using a Bloch equation simulator and velocities measured directly using phase-contrast MRI at the level of the labeling plane, taking into account the effects of labeling plane angulation. We demonstrate that it is reasonable to assume a labeling efficiency of 0.85 for hepatic pCASL in normal volunteers.
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