Intracranial vessel wall alterations may lead to an increased blood flow pulsatility and the enlargement of perivascular spaces (ePVS). To examine the relationship between these measures, this 7T MRI study applied phase contrast MRI to measure blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery and lenticulostriate arteries (LSAs) and obtained ePVS visual rating scores. An increased LSA pulsatility index was found to be related to a higher number of ePVS in the basal ganglia and centrum semiovale. These findings are in support of underlying alterations of the cerebral small vessel wall, which influence both the ePVS and the pulsatility.
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