Non-triggered quantification of central and peripheral pulse-wave velocity

PURPOSE: Stiffening of the arteries results in increased pulse-wave velocity (PWV), the propagation velocity of the blood. Elevated aortic PWV has been shown to correlate with aging and atherosclerotic alterations. We extended a previous non-triggered projection-based cardiovascular MR method and demonstrate its feasibility by mapping the PWV of the aortic arch, thoraco-abdominal aorta and iliofemoral arteries in a cohort of healthy adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The proposed method "simultaneously" excites and collects a series of velocity-encoded projections at two arterial segments to estimate the wave-front velocity, which inherently probes the high-frequency component of the dynamic vessel wall modulus in response to oscillatory pressure waves. The regional PWVs were quantified in a small pilot study in healthy subjects (N = 10, age range 23 to 68 yrs) at 3T. RESULTS: The projection-based method successfully time-resolved regional PWVs for 8-10 cardiac cycles without gating and demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring beat-to-beat changes in PWV resulting from heart rate irregularities. For dual-slice excitation the aliasing was negligible and did not interfere with PWV quantification. The aortic arch and thoracoabdominal aorta PWV were positively correlated with age (p < 0.05), consistent with previous reports. On the other hand, the PWV of the iliofemoral arteries showed decreasing trend with age, which has been associated with the weakening of muscular arteries, a natural aging process. CONCLUSION: The PWV map of the arterial tree from ascending aorta to femoral arteries may provide additional insight into pathophysiology of vascular aging and atherosclerosis.