Longitudinal Changes in Global Cerebral Blood Flow in Cognitively Normal Older Adults: A Phase‐Contrast MRI Study

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging 2022-11, Vol.56 (5), p.1538-1545
• Main Authors: Han, Hualu, Lin, Zixuan, Soldan, Anja, Pettigrew, Corinne, Betz, Joshua F., Oishi, Kumiko, Li, Yang, Liu, Peiying, Albert, Marilyn, Lu, Hanzhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adults; Age; Aged; Aging; Arteries; Bayes Theorem; Bayesian analysis; Blood flow; Brain; Brain - blood supply; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral blood flow; Cerebrovascular Circulation - physiology; Cognitive ability; Confidence intervals; Cross-Sectional Studies; Evaluation; Field strength; Humans; longitudinal; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Middle Aged; Older people; phase‐contrast; Prospective Studies; Reduction; Statistical analysis; Statistical tests; Substantia alba; White Matter - diagnostic imaging; white matter hyperintensity
• ISSN: 1053-1807; 1522-2586; 1522-2586
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.28133

Background Characterization of blood supply changes in older individuals is important in understanding brain aging and diseases. However, prior studies largely focused on cross‐sectional design, thus change in cerebral blood flow (CBF) could not be assessed on an individual level. Purpose To evaluate longitudinal short‐term changes in global CBF in cognitively normal older adults. Study Type Prospective, longitudinal, and cohort. Population One‐hundred twenty‐seven cognitive‐normal participants (mean age 69 ± 7 years, 47 males) underwent serial MRI with an average follow‐up time of 2.1 years. Field Strength/Sequence 3 T phase‐contrast (PC), three‐dimensional magnetization‐prepared‐rapid‐acquisition‐of‐gradient‐echo (MPRAGE) and fluid‐attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI. Assessment Total CBF was measured with PC MRI allowing assessment of quantitative flow in four major feeding arteries by a trained radiologist with >3 years' experience (O.K.). Brain volume was obtained from MPRAGE MRI and measured by T1‐MultiAtlas MRICloud tool. The ratio between total CBF and brain volume yielded global CBF in mL/100 g/min. White matter hyperintensity (WMH) was measured automatically using a Bayesian probability approach on FLAIR. Statistical Tests Linear mixed effect model was used to simultaneously assess cross‐sectional age‐differences and longitudinal age‐changes in CBF. Spearman rank correlation was used to evaluate the relationship between CBF change and WMH progression. A P‐value of