Age-related arterial wall hardening could be detrimental to brain function via several pathways. A consequence of vessel wall hardening is the increased velocity at which the cardiac-induced pulse wave travels. Previously, pulse wave velocity in the aorta and extracranial arteries have been linked to brain pathology. However, there's a lack of “target-organ” measurements. Here we present a 4D flow MRI method to estimate pulse wave velocity in the cerebral arterial tree. The method is shown to be stable in an internal consistency test, and of sufficient sensitivity to robustly detect age-related increases in intracranial pulse wave velocity.
This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.