Assessment of carotid stiffness by measuring carotid pulse wave velocity using a single-slice oblique-sagittal phase-contrast MRI

Soroush Heidari Pahlavian, Steven Yong Cen, Xiaoming Bi, Danny J.J. Wang, Helena Chang Chui, Lirong Yan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: Increased arterial stiffness has been shown to be one of the earliest markers of cerebrovascular dysfunction. As a surrogate marker of arterial stiffness, pulse wave velocity (PWV) quantifications are generally carried out on central and peripheral arteries. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate an MRI approach to assess carotid stiffness by measuring carotid PWV (cPWV) using a fast oblique-sagittal phase-contrast MRI sequence. Methods: In 29 volunteers, a single-slice oblique-sagittal phase-contrast MRI sequence with retrospective cardiac gating was used to quantify blood velocity waveforms along a vessel segment covering the common carotid artery (CCA) and the internal carotid artery (ICA). The CCA-ICA segment length was measured from a region of interest selected on the magnitude image. Phase-contrast MRI-measured velocities were also used to quantify the ICA pulsatility index along with cPWV quantification. Results: The mean value of cPWV calculated using the middle upslope area algorithm was 2.86 ± 0.71 and 3.97 ± 1.14 m/s in young and elderly subjects, respectively. Oblique-sagittal phase-contrast MRI–derived cPWV measurements showed excellent intrascan and interscan repeatability. cPWV and ICA pulsatility index were significantly greater in older subjects compared to those in the young subjects (P <.01 and P =.01, respectively). Also, increased cPWV values were associated with elevated systolic blood pressure (β = 0.05, P =.03). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that oblique-sagittal phase-contrast MRI is a feasible technique for the quantification of both cPWV and ICA pulsatility index and showed their potential utility in evaluating cerebroarterial aging and age-related neurovascular disorders.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)442-455
Number of pages14
JournalMagnetic resonance in medicine
Volume86
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • carotid stiffness
  • phase-contrast MRI
  • pulsatility index
  • pulse wave velocity
  • vascular aging

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging

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