Multidelay arterial spin-labeling MRI in neonates and infants: Cerebral perfusion changes during brain maturation

BACKGROUNDANDPURPOSE: Arterial spin-labeling with multiple postlabeling delays can correct transit times.Wetried to evaluate CBF in neonates and infants using multidelay arterial spin-labeling. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Multidelay arterial spin-labeling was applied to 13 preterm neonates (mean postmenstrual age, 34.9 weeks), 13 term-equivalent-age neonates (mean postmenstrual age, 39.2 weeks), and 6 infants (mean postmenstrual age, 57.8 weeks). Transit time- corrected CBF in the caudate, thalamus, frontal GM, occipital GM, frontal WM, and occipital WM was measured, and relative CBF compared with the whole-brain CBF was calculated. Inter- and intragroup comparisons were performed among the 3 age groups. A correlation and nonlinear regression analysis were performed between postmenstrual age and CBF. RESULTS: Intergroup comparisons showed significantly higher whole-brain CBF in infants (38.3 mL/100 g/min) compared with preterm (15.5 mL/100 g/min) and term-equivalent-age (18.3 mL/100 g/min) neonates (P <.001). In the intragroup comparison, all 3 groups showed significantly higher relative CBF values in the occipital WM (63.6%-90.3%) compared with the frontal WM (46.3%-73.9%). In term-equivalent- age neonates, the occipitalGM(120.8%) had significantly higher relative CBF values than the frontalGM(103.5%). There was a significant negative correlation between postmenstrual age and the relative CBF of the thalamus (r = - 0.449, P =.010). There were significant positive relationships between postmenstrual age and the relative CBF of the frontal WM (R² = 0.298, P =.001) and occipital WM (R² = 0.452, P =.001). CONCLUSIONS: Multidelay arterial spin-labeling with transit time- corrected CBF showed developmental changes and regional differences of CBF in neonates and infants.