Quantitative cerebral perfusion using the PRESTO acquisition scheme

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of using the rapid principles of echo shifting with a train of observations (PRESTO) sequence for measurements of cerebral hemodynamic parameters based on first pass of a contrast agent. Materials and Methods: Simulations were performed to investigate potential resolution loss due to relaxation effects. Experimental evaluation was conducted in healthy monkey brains using PRESTO and echo-planar imaging (EPI). Results: For short echo trains, an insignificant contribution of the longitudinal and transversal relaxation rates to the signal amplitude in white matter and gray matter was found, whereas a contribution as large as 40% was found in large vessels. Simulations of the point spread function demonstrated that PRESTO, despite its shorter readout trains, only has a small advantage in terms of maintenance of image resolution during bolus passage compared to EPI as long as the EPI echo train can be kept similar to the T2* value at the top of the bolus. Experimental studies revealed that the PRESTO and EPI gray matter to white matter ratio were similar with respect to cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), and mean transit time (MTT). Conclusion: The study showed that PRESTO and EPI led to comparable quantitative perfusion parameters. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.