Measurement of regional cerebral blood flow in cat brain using intracarotid ²H₂O and ²H NMR imaging

Cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured in cat brain in vivo at 2.7 T using 2H NMR to monitor the washout of deuterated saline injected into both carotid arteries via the lingual arteries. In anesthetized cats, global CBF varied directly with PaCO2 over a range of 20-50 mm Hg, and the corresponding global CBF values ranged from 25 to 125 ml.100 g-1.min-1. Regional CBF was measured in a 1-cm axial section of cat brain using intracarotid deuterated saline and gradient-echo 2H NMR imaging. Blood flow images with a maximum pixel resolution of 0.3 x 0.3 x 1.0 cm were generated from the deuterium signal washout at each pixel. Image derived values for CBF agreed well with other determinations, and decreased significantly with hypocapnia.