Cerebrospinal fluid volumetric MRI mapping as a simple measurement for evaluating brain atrophy

Objectives

To assess whether volumetric cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) MRI can be used as a surrogate for brain atrophy assessment and to evaluate how the T₂ of the CSF relates to brain atrophy.

Methods

Twenty-eight subjects [mean age 64 (sd 2) years] were included; T₁-weighted and CSF MRI were performed. The first echo data of the CSF MRI sequence was used to obtain intracranial volume, CSF partial volume was measured voxel-wise to obtain CSF volume (V_CSF) and the T₂ of CSF (T_2,CSF) was calculated. The correlation between V_CSF / T_2,CSF and brain atrophy scores [global cortical atrophy (GCA) and medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA)] was evaluated.

Results

Relative total, peripheral subarachnoidal, and ventricular V_CSF increased significantly with increased scores on the GCA and MTA (R = 0.83, 0.78 and 0.78 and R = 0.72, 0.62 and 0.86). Total, peripheral subarachnoidal, and ventricular T₂ of the CSF increased significantly with higher scores on the GCA and MTA (R = 0.72, 0.70 and 0.49 and R = 0.60, 0.57 and 0.41).

Conclusion

A fast, fully automated CSF MRI volumetric sequence is an alternative for qualitative atrophy scales. The T₂ of the CSF is related to brain atrophy and could thus be a marker of neurodegenerative disease.

Key points

• A 1:11 min CSF MRI volumetric sequence can evaluate brain atrophy.

• CSF MRI provides accurate atrophy assessment without partial volume effects.

• CSF MRI data can be processed quickly without user interaction.

• The measured T₂of the CSF is related to brain atrophy.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00330-015-3932-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.