Vascular dysfunction is frequently found in neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases and closely related to age. Bilateral internal carotid arteries (ICAs) and vertebral arteries (VAs) are the key feeding vessels of the brain, which may provide important indices of intracranial health status. We aimed to evaluate age-related morphological and hemodynamic changes of the vessels using TOF MRA and phase contrast MRI. More tortuous appearance as well as reduced hemodynamics were observed with aging; Blood velocity was found to be associated with the morphology after adjusting age and gender, indicating that high blood velocity and wall shear stress could induce arterial tortuosity.
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