Blood Flow of Ophthalmic Artery in Healthy Individuals Determined by Phase-Contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging

PURPOSE. Recent development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers new possibilities to assess ocular blood flow. This prospective study evaluates the feasibility of phase-contrast MRI (PCMRI) to measure flow rate in the ophthalmic artery (OA) and establish reference values in healthy young (HY) and elderly (HE) subjects. METHODS. Fifty HY subjects (28 females, 21-30 years of age) and 44 HE (23 females, 64-80 years of age) were scanned on a 3-Tesla MR system. The PCMRI sequence had a spatial resolution of 0.35 mm per pixel, with the measurement plan placed perpendicularly to the OA. Mean flow rate (Q(mean)), resistive index (RI), and arterial volume pulsatility of OA (Delta V-max) were measured from the flow rate curve. Accuracy of PCMRI measures was investigated using a vessel-phantom mimicking the diameter and the flow rate range of the human OA. RESULTS. Flow rate could be assessed in 97% of the OAs. Phantom investigations showed good agreement between the reference and PCMRI measurements with an error of <7%. No statistical difference was found in Q(mean) between HY and HE individuals (HY: mean +/- SD = 10.37 +/- 4.45 mL/min; HE: 10.81 +/- 5.15 mL/min, P = 0.655). The mean of Delta V-max (HY: 18.70 +/- 7.24 mu L; HE: 26.27 +/- 12.59 mu L, P < 0.001) and RI (HY: 0.62 +/- 0.08; HE: 0.67 +/- 0.1, P = 0.012) were significantly different between HY and HE. CONCLUSIONS. This study demonstrated that the flow rate of OA can be quantified using PCMRI. There was an age difference in the pulsatility parameters; however, the mean flow rate appeared independent of age. The primary difference in flow curves between HE and HY was in the relaxation phase of the systolic peak.