HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by van Raamt, A. F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by van Raamt, A. F.

Arterial Blood Flow to the Brain in Patients with Vascular Disease: The SMART Study¹

¹ From the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care (A.F.v.R., Y.v.d.G.) and Department of Radiology (A.P.A.A., W.P.T.M.M.), University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, H.P. Strat. 6.131, 3584 CX Utrecht, the Netherlands. Received May 11, 2005; revision requested July 8; revision received August 8; final version accepted October 13. Supported by a program grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research-Medical Sciences (NWO-MW: project no. 904-65-095). The funding source had no involvement in the writing of this article or in the decision to submit it for publication. Address correspondence to Y.v.d.G. (e-mail: y.vandergraaf{at}umcutrecht.nl).

Purpose: To retrospectively investigate which characteristics are related to total arterial blood flow to the brain in patients with symptomatic vascular disease.

Materials and Methods: The study was approved by the ethics committee of the authors' institution, and written informed consent was obtained. The total volume flow rate (tVFR) values in the internal carotid arteries and the basilar artery in 636 patients (536 men, 100 women; mean age, 58 years) with symptomatic vascular disease were measured with two-dimensional phase-contrast magnetic resonance (MR) angiography. Reference tVFR values in the general population were obtained from previous research involving 158 subjects (73 men, 85 women; mean age, 60 years).

Results: A higher tVFR was found in patients with symptomatic vascular disease, but this association was statistically significant in only those patients in the 7th decade of life. The mean tVFR decreased with increasing age (–3.4 mL/min per year; 95% confidence interval [CI]: –4.3, –2.5). Diabetes (–27.6 mL/min; 95% CI: –52.6, –2.6) and increasing body mass index (BMI) (–2.8 mL/min per BMI unit; 95% CI: –5.3, –0.2) were associated with lower tVFR. Patients with vascular disease in a cerebral location had lower tVFR values (–39.7 mL/min; 95% CI: –65.1, –14.3) than did patients with symptomatic vascular disease elsewhere in the vascular tree.

Conclusion: Patients with symptomatic vascular disease had slightly higher arterial blood flow to the brain compared with the general population. The tVFR decreased with increasing age and increasing BMI, and patients with diabetes had lower tVFR values than did those without diabetes. Patients with vascular disease in a cerebral location had lower tVFR values than did those with symptomatic vascular disease at other arterial sites.

© RSNA, 2006

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D J DINTER, K A BUESING, S J DIEHL, and K W NEFF Blood volume flow quantification of the brain-supplying circulation in fibromuscular dysplasia using 2D cine phase-contrast MRI Br. J. Radiol., June 1, 2009; 82(978): 459 - 467. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]