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Blood‐oxygen level dependent MRI measures of cerebrovascular reactivity using a controlled respiratory challenge: Reproducibility and gender differences
Author(s) -
Kassner Andrea,
Winter Jeff D.,
Poublanc Julien,
Mikulis David J.,
Crawley Adrian P.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.22044
Subject(s) - reproducibility , intraclass correlation , medicine , repeatability , white matter , nuclear medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , blood oxygen level dependent , radiology , chemistry , chromatography
Purpose: To evaluate the reproducibility and gender differences in cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) measurements obtained using the blood‐oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response to controlled changes in end‐tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (P ET CO 2 ). Materials and Methods: We obtained ethical approval to image 19 healthy volunteers (10 men, 9 women) on a 1.5 Tesla (T) MRI scanner twice on two separate days using identical procedures. CVR images were generated by collecting BOLD MRI data during controlled changes in P ET CO 2 induced by a sequential gas delivery system. Results: Using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), we demonstrated excellent within‐day CVR measures in gray matter (GM) (ICC = 0.92) and white matter (WM) (ICC = 0.88) regions, excellent between‐day reproducibility in GM (ICC = 0.81), and good between‐day reproducibility in the WM (ICC = 0.66). CVR values between men and women were significantly different in the GM and WM. Men exhibited a 22 ± 2% greater CVR in GM and a 17 ± 2% greater CVR in WM compared with females. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the reliability of BOLD MRI CVR measurements obtained using a controlled cerebrovascular challenge. Using this technique, we also revealed significantly increased BOLD response to CO 2 in males compared with females. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010; 31: 298–304. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.