Observation of the Lenticulostriate Arteries in the Human Brain In Vivo Using 7.0T MR Angiography

Abstract

Background and Purpose-We sought to examine the feasibility of observing the lenticulostriate arteries (LSAs) noninvasively by ultrahigh-field MRI with 7.0T. Methods-We used 3-dimensional time-of-flight MR angiography with a radiofrequency coil optimized for 7.0T MRI. We examined the LSAs of 6 healthy subjects and compared 7.0T MR angiography images with 1.5T ones to examine the potentials of ultrahigh-field MRI for angiography. Results-The results show clear details of LSAs and their distribution in the normal healthy subjects with large variations in the shapes, the number of branches and the sites of origin. We also observed substantial differences between the left and right sides within each subject. Although we studied only 6 subjects, we found no age-or gender-related differences in the LSAs. Conclusions-The visualization of microvasculature of the brain, such as LSAs, using 7.0T MR angiography, is possible in in vivo human studies noninvasively. We, therefore, believe that it could play a major role in the study of small vascular abnormalities, such as the early stages of cerebral strokes. (Stroke. 2008;39:1604-1606.)

Analysis of Correlation between the Number of Lenticulostriate Arteries and Hypertension Based on High-Resolution MR Angiography Findings

“…DSA requires not only the administration of a contrast medium but also x-ray exposure. Cho et al 13 and Von Morze et al 19 studied LSAs by using MRA and concluded that it is possible to visualize the anatomic structures in human brain, such as LSAs, in vivo, by using a 7T system. However, a 7T scanner is not used in clinical practice.…”

“…12 With the development of high-field-strength MR imaging, it is now possible to precisely and noninvasively visualize the microvasculature of the human brain, such as LSAs, in vivo, by using 3D-TOF-MRA. [13][14][15] This study was divided into 2 parts: In the first part, we compared LSAs visualized by clinical 3T MRA and those observed on DSA. In the second part, we performed quantitative analysis of the LSA images obtained by 3T 3D-TOF-MRA and determined the differences between the LSAs of patients with hypertension and nonhypertensive volunteers.…”

MR angiography of the cerebral perforating arteries with magnetization prepared anatomical reference at 7T: Comparison with time‐of‐flight

“…Early explorations by others have shown that time-of-flight (TOF) angiography has large potential at 7T, although initially mainly improved visualization of small vessels at the periphery was observed (4). Recently, also the perforating arteries were visualized at 7T with TOF angiography (5). However, the relationship between vessels and surrounding anatomy is difficult to assess in TOF-MRA images because recognition of important anatomical landmarks is inhibited by the lack of contrast between gray and white matter in brain parenchyma.…”

Non‐invasive visualization of basilar artery perforators with 7T MR angiography

“…Previous studies used the injection of contrast media to detect these microvessels (1,3). Only recently has the noninvasive vascular imaging of the small arteries, such as the LSAs, begun to shed light on the possibility of observing the PA in living humans, largely thanks to the availability of 7T MRI (15).…”

“…Studies using 7T MR angiography (MRA) have shown the in vivo microvascular imaging of structures such as the lenticulostriate arteries (LSAs) that were once thought impossible (15)(16)(17). The ability of 7T MRI to visualize the small arteries is attributed to the increased signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the ultra-high field strength MR, which provides not only improved vessel contrast via the longer T1 relaxation time of surrounding tissue, but reduces also the partial volume effect, especially at high imaging resolutions (15,18).…”