Purpose:To improve the accuracy of dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) measurements of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and volume (CBV). Materials and Methods:In eight volunteers, steady-state CBV (CBV SS ) was measured using TrueFISP readout of inversion recovery (IR) before and after injection of a bolus of contrast. A standard DSC (STD) perfusion measurement was performed by echo-planar imaging (EPI) during passage of the bolus and subsequently used to calculate the CBF (CBF DSC ) and CBV (CBV DSC ). The ratio of CBV SS to CBV DSC was used to calibrate measurements of CBV and CBF on a subject-by-subject basis. Results:Agreement of values of CBV (1.77 Ϯ 0.27 mL/100 g in white matter (WM), 3.65 Ϯ 1.04 mL/100 g in gray matter (GM)), and CBF (23.6 Ϯ 2.4 mL/(100 g min) in WM, 57.3 Ϯ 18.2 mL/(100 g min) in GM) with published goldstandard values shows improvement after calibration. An F-test comparison of the coefficients of variation of the CBV and CBF showed a significant reduction, with calibration, of the variability of CBV in WM (P Ͻ 0.001) and GM (P Ͻ 0.03), and of CBF in WM (P Ͻ 0.0001). Conclusion:The addition of a CBV SS measurement to an STD measurement of cerebral perfusion improves the accuracy of CBV and CBF measurements. The method may prove useful for assessing patients suffering from acute stroke.

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