Cerebrovascular Reactivity Measurement Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Systematic Review

Macrovascular blood flow and microvascular cerebrovascular reactivity are regionally coupled in adolescence

Cerebrovascular imaging assessments are particularly challenging in adolescent cohorts, where not all modalities are appropriate, and rapid brain maturation alters hemodynamics at both macro- and microvascular scales. In a preliminary sample of healthy adolescents (n=12, 8-25 years), we investigated relationships between 4D flow MRI-derived blood velocity and blood flow in bilateral anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries and BOLD cerebrovascular reactivity in associated vascular territories. As hypothesized, higher velocities in large arteries are associated with an earlier response to a vasodilatory stimulus (cerebrovascular reactivity delay) in the downstream territory. Higher blood flow through these arteries is associated with a larger BOLD response to a vasodilatory stimulus (cerebrovascular reactivity amplitude) in the associated territory. These trends are consistent in a case study of adult moyamoya disease. In our small adolescent cohort, macrovascular-microvascular relationships for velocity/delay and flow/CVR change with age, though underlying mechanisms are unclear. Our work emphasizes the need to better characterize this key stage of human brain development, when cerebrovascular hemodynamics are changing, and standard imaging methods offer limited insight into these processes. We provide important normative data for future comparisons in pathology, where combining macro- and microvascular assessments may better help us prevent, stratify, and treat cerebrovascular disease.

A mathematical model for temporal cerebral blood flow response to acetazolamide evaluated in patients with Moyamoya disease

BACKGROUND

Paired cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurement is usually acquired before and after vasoactive stimulus to estimate cerebrovascular reserve (CVR). However, CVR may be confounded because of variations in time-to-maximum CBF response (tmax) following acetazolamide injection. With a mathematical model, CVR can be calculated insensitive to variations in tmax, and a model offers the possibility to calculate additional model-derived parameters. A model that describes the temporal CBF response following a vasodilating acetazolamide injection is proposed and evaluated.

METHODS

A bi-exponential model was adopted and fitted to four CBF measurements acquired using arterial spin labelling before and initialised at 5, 15 and 25 min after acetazolamide injection in a total of fifteen patients with Moyamoya disease. Curve fitting was performed using a non-linear least squares method with a priori constraints based on simulations.

RESULTS

Goodness of fit (mean absolute error) varied between 0.30 and 0.62 ml·100 g-1·min-1. Model-derived CVR was significantly higher compared to static CVR measures. Maximum CBF increase occurred earlier in healthy- compared to diseased vascular regions.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed mathematical model offers the possibility to calculate CVR insensitive to variations in time to maximum CBF response which gives a more detailed characterisation of CVR compared to static CVR measures. Although the mathematical model adapts generally well to this dataset of patients with MMD it should be considered as experimental; hence, further studies in healthy populations and other patient cohorts are warranted.

Micro-ultrasound based characterization of cerebrovasculature following focal ischemic stroke and upon short-term rehabilitation

Notwithstanding recanalization treatments in the acute stage of stroke, many survivors suffer long-term impairments. Physical rehabilitation is the only widely available strategy for chronic-stage recovery, but its optimization is hindered by limited understanding of its effects on brain structure and function. Using micro-ultrasound, behavioral testing, and electrophysiology, we investigated the impact of skilled reaching rehabilitation on cerebral hemodynamics, motor function, and neuronal activity in a rat model of focal ischemic stroke. A 50 MHz micro-ultrasound transducer and intracortical electrophysiology were utilized to characterize neurovascular changes three weeks following focal ischemia elicited by endothelin-1 injection into the sensorimotor cortex. Sprague-Dawley rats were rehabilitated through tray reaching, and their fine skilled reaching was assessed via the Montoya staircase. Focal ischemia led to a sustained deficit in forelimb reaching; and increased tortuosity of the penetrating vessels in the perilesional cortex; with no lateralization of spontaneous neuronal activity. Rehabilitation improved skilled reaching; decreased cortical vascularity; was associated with elevated peri- vs. contralesional hypercapnia-induced flow homogenization and increased perilesional spontaneous cortical neuronal activity. Our study demonstrated neurovascular plasticity accompanying rehabilitation-elicited functional recovery in the subacute stage following stroke, and multiple micro-ultrasound-based markers of cerebrovascular structure and function modified in recovery from ischemia and upon rehabilitation.

The conducted vascular response as a mediator of hypercapnic cerebrovascular reactivity: A modelling study

It is well established that the cerebral blood flow (CBF) shows exquisite sensitivity to changes in the arterial blood partial pressure of CO2 ( [Formula: see text] ), which is reflected by an index termed cerebrovascular reactivity. In response to elevations in [Formula: see text] (hypercapnia), the vessels of the cerebral microvasculature dilate, thereby decreasing the vascular resistance and increasing CBF. Due to the challenges of access, scale and complexity encountered when studying the microvasculature, however, the mechanisms behind cerebrovascular reactivity are not fully understood. Experiments have previously established that the cholinergic release of the Acetylcholine (ACh) neurotransmitter in the cortex is a prerequisite for the hypercapnic response. It is also known that ACh functions as an endothelial-dependent agonist, in which the local administration of ACh elicits local hyperpolarization in the vascular wall; this hyperpolarization signal is then propagated upstream the vascular network through the endothelial layer and is coupled to a vasodilatory response in the vascular smooth muscle (VSM) layer in what is known as the conducted vascular response (CVR). Finally, experimental data indicate that the hypercapnic response is more strongly correlated with the CO2 levels in the tissue than in the arterioles. Accordingly, we hypothesize that the CVR, evoked by increases in local tissue CO2 levels and a subsequent local release of ACh, is responsible for the CBF increase observed in response to elevations in [Formula: see text] . By constructing physiologically grounded dynamic models of CBF and control in the cerebral vasculature, ones that integrate the available knowledge and experimental data, we build a new model of the series of signalling events and pathways underpinning the hypercapnic response, and use the model to provide compelling evidence that corroborates the aforementioned hypothesis. If the CVR indeed acts as a mediator of the hypercapnic response, the proposed mechanism would provide an important addition to our understanding of the repertoire of metabolic feedback mechanisms possessed by the brain and would motivate further in-vivo investigation. We also model the interaction of the hypercapnic response with dynamic cerebral autoregulation (dCA), the collection of mechanisms that the brain possesses to maintain near constant CBF despite perturbations in pressure, and show how the dCA mechanisms, which otherwise tend to be overlooked when analysing experimental results of cerebrovascular reactivity, could play a significant role in shaping the CBF response to elevations in [Formula: see text] . Such in-silico models can be used in tandem with in-vivo experiments to expand our understanding of cerebrovascular diseases, which continue to be among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in humans.

Increased Risk of Recurrent Stroke in Symptomatic Large Vessel Disease With Impaired BOLD Cerebrovascular Reactivity

BACKGROUND

Impaired cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) has been correlated with recurrent ischemic stroke. However, for clinical purposes, most CVR techniques are rather complex, time-consuming, and lack validation for quantitative measurements. The recent adaptation of a standardized hypercapnic stimulus in combination with a blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging signal as a surrogate for cerebral blood flow offers a potential universally comparable CVR assessment. We investigated the association between impaired BOLD-CVR and risk for recurrent ischemic events.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with symptomatic cerebrovascular large vessel disease who had undergone a prospective hypercapnic-challenged BOLD-CVR protocol at a single tertiary stroke referral center between June 2014 and April 2020. These patients were followed up for recurrent acute ischemic events for up to 3 years. BOLD-CVR (%BOLD signal change per mm Hg CO2) was calculated on a voxel-by-voxel basis. Impaired BOLD-CVR of the affected (ipsilateral to the vascular pathology) hemisphere was defined as an average BOLD-CVR, falling 2 SD below the mean BOLD-CVR of the right hemisphere in a healthy age-matched reference cohort (n=20). Using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model, the association between impaired BOLD-CVR and ischemic stroke recurrence was assessed and Kaplan-Meier survival curves to visualize the acute ischemic stroke event rate.

RESULTS

Of 130 eligible patients, 28 experienced recurrent strokes (median, 85 days, interquartile range, 5-166 days). Risk factors associated with an increased recurrent stroke rate included impaired BOLD-CVR, a history of atrial fibrillation, and heart insufficiency. After adjusting for sex, age group, and atrial fibrillation, impaired BOLD-CVR exhibited a hazard ratio of 10.73 (95% CI, 4.14-27.81; P<0.001) for recurrent ischemic stroke.

CONCLUSIONS

Among patients with symptomatic cerebrovascular large vessel disease, those exhibiting impaired BOLD-CVR in the affected hemisphere had a 10.7-fold higher risk of recurrent ischemic stroke events compared with individuals with nonimpaired BOLD-CVR.

The significance and limited influence of cerebrovascular reactivity on age and sex effects in task- and resting-state brain activity

Functional MRI measures the blood-oxygen-level dependent signals, which provide an indirect measure of neural activity mediated by neurovascular responses. Cerebrovascular reactivity affects both task-induced and resting-state blood-oxygen-level dependent activity and may confound inter-individual effects, such as those related to aging and biological sex. We examined a large dataset containing breath-holding, checkerboard, and resting-state tasks. We used the breath-holding task to measure cerebrovascular reactivity, used the checkerboard task to obtain task-based activations, and quantified resting-state activity with amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and regional homogeneity. We hypothesized that cerebrovascular reactivity would be correlated with blood-oxygen-level dependent measures and that accounting for these correlations would result in better estimates of age and sex effects. We found that cerebrovascular reactivity was correlated with checkerboard task activations in the visual cortex and with amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and regional homogeneity in widespread fronto-parietal regions, as well as regions with large vessels. We also found significant age and sex effects in cerebrovascular reactivity, some of which overlapped with those observed in amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and regional homogeneity. However, correcting for the effects of cerebrovascular reactivity had very limited influence on the estimates of age and sex. Our results highlight the limitations of accounting for cerebrovascular reactivity with the current breath-holding task.

Validation of a new 3D quantitative BOLD based cerebral oxygen extraction mapping

Quantitative BOLD (qBOLD) MRI allows evaluation of oxidative metabolism of the brain based purely on an endogenous contrast mechanism. The method quantifies deoxygenated blood volume (DBV) and hemoglobin oxygen saturation level of venous blood (Yv), yielding oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), and along with a separate measurement of cerebral blood flow, cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO2) maps. Here, we evaluated our recently reported 3D qBOLD method that rectifies a number of deficiencies in prior qBOLD approaches in terms of repeat reproducibility and sensitivity to hypercapnia on the metabolic parameters, and in comparison to dual-gas calibrated BOLD (cBOLD) MRI for determining resting-state oxygen metabolism. Results suggested no significant difference between test-retest qBOLD scans in either DBV and OEF. Exposure to hypercapnia yielded group averages of 38 and 28% for OEF and 151 and 146 µmol/min/100 g for CMRO2 in gray matter at baseline and hypercapnia, respectively. The decrease of OEF during hypercapnia was significant (p ≪ 0.01), whereas CMRO2 did not change significantly (p = 0.25). Finally, baseline OEF (37 vs. 39%) and CMRO2 (153 vs. 145 µmol/min/100 g) in gray matter using qBOLD and dual-gas cBOLD were found to be in good agreement with literature values, and were not significantly different from each other (p > 0.1).

Non-Invasive Estimation of Intracranial Pressure-Derived Cerebrovascular Reactivity Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Sensor Technology in Acute Neural Injury: A Time-Series Analysis

The contemporary monitoring of cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) relies on invasive intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring which limits its application. Interest is shifting towards near-infrared spectroscopic regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2)-based indices of CVR which are less invasive and have improved spatial resolution. This study aims to examine and model the relationship between ICP and rSO2-based indices of CVR. Through a retrospective cohort study of prospectively collected physiologic data in moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients, linear mixed effects modeling techniques, augmented with time-series analysis, were utilized to evaluate the ability of rSO2-based indices of CVR to model ICP-based indices. It was found that rSO2-based indices of CVR had a statistically significant linear relationship with ICP-based indices, even when the hierarchical and autocorrelative nature of the data was accounted for. This strengthens the body of literature indicating the validity of rSO2-based indices of CVR and potential greatly expands the scope of CVR monitoring.

Progressive Cerebrovascular Reactivity Reduction Occurs in Parkinson's Disease: A Longitudinal Study

BACKGROUND

The change of microvascular function over the course of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to ascertain regional cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) changes in the patients with PD at baseline (V0) and during a 2-year follow-up period (V1). We further investigated whether alterations in CVR were linked to cognitive decline and brain functional connectivity (FC).

METHODS

We recruited 90 PD patients and 51 matched healthy controls (HCs). PD patients underwent clinical evaluations, neuropsychological assessments, and magnetic resonance (MR) scanning at V0 and V1, whereas HCs completed neuropsychological assessments and MR at baseline. The analysis included evaluating CVR and FC maps derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and investigating CVR measurement reproducibility.

RESULTS

Compared with HCs, CVR reduction in left inferior occipital gyrus and right superior temporal cortex at V0 persisted at V1, with larger clusters. Longitudinal reduction in CVR of the left posterior cingulate cortex correlated with decline in Trail Making Test B performance within PD patients. Reproducibility validation further confirmed these findings. In addition, the results also showed that there was a tendency for FC to be weakened from posterior to anterior with the progression of the disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Microvascular dysfunction might be involved in disease progression, subsequently weaken brain FC, and partly contribute to executive function deficits in early PD. © 2023 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Assessing cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) using a hypercapnic challenge and pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL)

Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) is a measure of cerebral small vessels' ability to respond to changes in metabolic demand and can be quantified using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) coupled with a vasoactive stimulus. Reduced CVR occurs with neurodegeneration and is associated with cognitive decline. While commonly measured in humans, few studies have evaluated CVR in animal models. Herein, we describe methods to induce hypercapnia in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) under gas anesthesia to measure cerebral blood flow (CBF) and CVR using pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL). Fifteen (13 M, 2 F) adult rhesus macaques underwent pCASL imaging that included a baseline segment (100% O2) followed by a hypercapnic challenge (isoflurane anesthesia with 5% CO2, 95% O2 mixed gas). Relative hypercapnia was defined as an end-tidal CO2 (ETCO2) ≥5 mmHg above baseline ETCO2. The mean ETCO2 during the baseline segment of the pCASL sequence was 34 mmHg (range: 23-48 mmHg). During this segment, mean whole-brain CBF was 51.48 ml/100g/min (range: 21.47-77.23 ml/100g/min). Significant increases (p<0.0001) in ETCO2 were seen upon inspiration of the mixed gas (5% CO2, 95% O2). The mean increase in ETCO2 was 8.5 mmHg and corresponded with a mean increase in CBF of 37.1% (p<0.0001). The mean CVR measured was 4.3%/mmHg. No anesthetic complications occurred as a result of the CO2 challenge. Our methods were effective at inducing a state of relative hypercapnia that corresponds with a detectable increase in whole brain CBF using pCASL MRI. Using these methods, a CO2 challenge can be performed in conjunction with pCASL imaging to evaluate CBF and CVR in rhesus macaques. The measured CVR in rhesus macaques is comparable to human CVR highlighting the translational utility of rhesus macaques in neuroscience research. These methods present a feasible means to measure CVR in comparative models of neurodegeneration and cerebrovascular dysfunction.

Imaging the neurovascular unit in health and neurodegeneration: a scoping review of interdependencies between MRI measures

The neurovascular unit (NVU) is a complex structure that facilitates nutrient delivery and metabolic waste clearance, forms the blood-brain barrier (BBB), and supports fluid homeostasis in the brain. The integrity of NVU subcomponents can be measured in vivo using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including quantification of enlarged perivascular spaces (ePVS), BBB permeability, cerebral perfusion and extracellular free water. The breakdown of NVU subparts is individually associated with aging, pathology, and cognition. However, how these subcomponents interact as a system, and how interdependencies are impacted by pathology remains unclear. This systematic scoping review identified 26 studies that investigated the inter-relationships between multiple subcomponents of the NVU in nonclinical and neurodegenerative populations using MRI. A further 112 studies investigated associations between the NVU and white matter hyperintensities (WMH). We identify two putative clusters of NVU interdependencies: a 'vascular' cluster comprising BBB permeability, perfusion and basal ganglia ePVS; and a 'fluid' cluster comprising ePVS, free water and WMH. Emerging evidence suggests that subcomponent coupling within these clusters may be differentially related to aging, neurovascular injury or neurodegenerative pathology.

Associations of Cerebrovascular Regulation and Arterial Stiffness With Cerebral Small Vessel Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) is a major contributing factor to ischemic stroke and dementia. However, the vascular pathologies of cSVD remain inconclusive. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to characterize the associations between cSVD and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), cerebral autoregulation, and arterial stiffness (AS).

METHODS AND RESULTS

MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Embase were searched from inception to September 2023 for studies reporting CVR, cerebral autoregulation, or AS in relation to radiological markers of cSVD. Data were extracted in predefined tables, reviewed, and meta-analyses performed using inverse-variance random effects models to determine pooled odds ratios (ORs). A total of 1611 studies were identified; 142 were included in the systematic review, of which 60 had data available for meta-analyses. Systematic review revealed that CVR, cerebral autoregulation, and AS were consistently associated with cSVD (80.4%, 78.6%, and 85.4% of studies, respectively). Meta-analysis in 7 studies (536 participants, 32.9% women) revealed a borderline association between impaired CVR and cSVD (OR, 2.26 [95% CI, 0.99-5.14]; P=0.05). In 37 studies (27 952 participants, 53.0% women) increased AS, per SD, was associated with cSVD (OR, 1.24 [95% CI, 1.15-1.33]; P<0.01). Meta-regression adjusted for comorbidities accounted for one-third of the AS model variance (R2=29.4%, Pmoderators=0.02). Subgroup analysis of AS studies demonstrated an association with white matter hyperintensities (OR, 1.42 [95% CI, 1.18-1.70]; P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

The collective findings of the present systematic review and meta-analyses suggest an association between cSVD and impaired CVR and elevated AS. However, longitudinal investigations into vascular stiffness and regulatory function as possible risk factors for cSVD remain warranted.

Microstructural white matter integrity in relation to vascular reactivity in Dutch-type hereditary cerebral amyloid angiopathy

Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy (CAA) is characterized by cerebrovascular amyloid-β accumulation leading to hallmark cortical MRI markers, such as vascular reactivity, but white matter is also affected. By studying the relationship in different disease stages of Dutch-type CAA (D-CAA), we tested the relation between vascular reactivity and microstructural white matter integrity loss. In a cross-sectional study in D-CAA, 3 T MRI was performed with Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent (BOLD) fMRI upon visual activation to assess vascular reactivity and diffusion tensor imaging to assess microstructural white matter integrity through Peak Width of Skeletonized Mean Diffusivity (PSMD). We assessed the relationship between BOLD parameters - amplitude, time-to-peak (TTP), and time-to-baseline (TTB) - and PSMD, with linear and quadratic regression modeling. In total, 25 participants were included (15/10 pre-symptomatic/symptomatic; mean age 36/59 y). A lowered BOLD amplitude (unstandardized β = 0.64, 95%CI [0.10, 1.18], p = 0.02, Adjusted R2 = 0.48), was quadratically associated with increased PSMD levels. A delayed BOLD response, with prolonged TTP (β = 8.34 × 10-6, 95%CI [1.84 × 10-6, 1.48 × 10-5], p = 0.02, Adj. R2 = 0.25) and TTB (β = 6.57 × 10-6, 95%CI [1.92 × 10-6, 1.12 × 10-5], p = 0.008, Adj. R2 = 0.29), was linearly associated with increased PSMD. In D-CAA subjects, predominantly in the symptomatic stage, impaired cerebrovascular reactivity is related to microstructural white matter integrity loss. Future longitudinal studies are needed to investigate whether this relation is causal.

Cerebrovascular Function is Altered in Hemodialysis Patients

Key Points

Hemodialysis patients have impaired cerebrovascular reactivity. Hemodialysis patients have cerebral structural deficits.

Background

Hemodialysis patients have declines in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral oxygenation during hemodialysis that may lead to ischemic brain injury. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) may indicate which individuals are more susceptible to intradialytic hypoperfusion and ischemia. We hypothesized that hemodialysis patients would have decreased CVR and increased CBF relative to controls and deficits in CVR would be related to brain structural deficits.

Methods

We measured cortical thickness and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume from T1 and T2 fluid attenuation inversion recovery images, respectively; CVR from a breath hold blood oxygen level–dependent CVR functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); and arterial transit time and CBF from arterial spin labeling. Cerebrovascular and structural deficits in gray matter and white matter (GM and WM) were tested by averaging across the tissue and with a pothole analysis. Finally, we correlated cortical thickness and WMH volume with GM and WM cerebrovascular variables to assess the relationship between brain structure and cerebrovascular health.

Results

In ten hemodialysis patients, cortical thickness was found to be decreased (P = 0.002), WMH volume increased (P = 0.004), and WM CBF increased (P = 0.02) relative to ten controls. Pothole analysis indicated a higher number of increased GM and WM CBF voxels (P = 0.03, P = 0.02) and a higher number of decreased GM and WM CVR voxels (P = 0.02, P = 0.01).

Conclusions

This pilot study demonstrates that hemodialysis patients have decreased CVR and increased CBF relative to controls, along with reduced brain integrity. Further investigation is required to fully understand whether these cerebrovascular deficits may lead to structural changes.

Effect of blood pressure-lowering agents on microvascular function in people with small vessel diseases (TREAT-SVDs): a multicentre, open-label, randomised, crossover trial

BACKGROUND

Hypertension is the leading risk factor for cerebral small vessel disease. We aimed to determine whether antihypertensive drug classes differentially affect microvascular function in people with small vessel disease.

METHODS

We did a multicentre, open-label, randomised crossover trial with blinded endpoint assessment at five specialist centres in Europe. We included participants aged 18 years or older with symptomatic sporadic small vessel disease or cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) and an indication for antihypertensive treatment. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to one of three sequences of antihypertensive treatment using a computer-generated multiblock randomisation, stratified by study site and patient group. A 2-week washout period was followed by three 4-week periods of oral monotherapy with amlodipine, losartan, or atenolol at approved doses. The primary endpoint was change in cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) determined by blood oxygen level-dependent MRI response to hypercapnic challenge in normal-appearing white matter from the end of washout to the end of each treatment period. Efficacy analyses were done by intention-to-treat principles in all randomly assigned participants who had at least one valid assessment for the primary endpoint, and analyses were done separately for participants with sporadic small vessel disease and CADASIL. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03082014, and EudraCT, 2016-002920-10, and is terminated.

FINDINGS

Between Feb 22, 2018, and April 28, 2022, 75 participants with sporadic small vessel disease (mean age 64·9 years [SD 9·9]) and 26 with CADASIL (53·1 years [7·0]) were enrolled and randomly assigned to treatment. 79 participants (62 with sporadic small vessel disease and 17 with CADASIL) entered the primary efficacy analysis. Change in CVR did not differ between study drugs in participants with sporadic small vessel disease (mean change in CVR 1·8 × 10-4%/mm Hg [SE 20·1; 95% CI -37·6 to 41·2] for amlodipine; 16·7 × 10-4%/mm Hg [20·0; -22·3 to 55·8] for losartan; -7·1 × 10-4%/mm Hg [19·6; -45·5 to 31·1] for atenolol; poverall=0·39) but did differ in patients with CADASIL (15·7 × 10-4%/mm Hg [SE 27·5; 95% CI -38·3 to 69·7] for amlodipine; 19·4 × 10-4%/mm Hg [27·9; -35·3 to 74·2] for losartan; -23·9 × 10-4%/mm Hg [27·5; -77·7 to 30·0] for atenolol; poverall=0·019). In patients with CADASIL, pairwise comparisons showed that CVR improved with amlodipine compared with atenolol (-39·6 × 10-4%/mm Hg [95% CI -72·5 to -6·6; p=0·019) and with losartan compared with atenolol (-43·3 × 10-4%/mm Hg [-74·3 to -12·3]; p=0·0061). No deaths occurred. Two serious adverse events were recorded, one while taking amlodipine (diarrhoea with dehydration) and one while taking atenolol (fall with fracture), neither of which was related to study drug intake.

INTERPRETATION

4 weeks of treatment with amlodipine, losartan, or atenolol did not differ in their effects on cerebrovascular reactivity in people with sporadic small vessel disease but did result in differential treatment effects in patients with CADASIL. Whether antihypertensive drug classes differentially affect clinical outcomes in people with small vessel diseases requires further research.

FUNDING

EU Horizon 2020 programme.

Cerebrovascular Reactivity in Patients With Small Vessel Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) is inversely related to white matter hyperintensity severity, a marker of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). Less is known about the relationship between CVR and other SVD imaging features or cognition. We aimed to investigate these cross-sectional relationships.

METHODS

Between 2018 and 2021 in Edinburgh, we recruited patients presenting with lacunar or cortical ischemic stroke, whom we characterized for SVD features. We measured CVR in subcortical gray matter, normal-appearing white matter, and white matter hyperintensity using 3T magnetic resonance imaging. We assessed cognition using Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Statistical analyses included linear regression models with CVR as outcome, adjusted for age, sex, and vascular risk factors. We reported regression coefficients with 95% CIs.

RESULTS

Of 208 patients, 182 had processable CVR data sets (median age, 68.2 years; 68% men). Although the strength of association depended on tissue type, lower CVR in normal-appearing tissues and white matter hyperintensity was associated with larger white matter hyperintensity volume (BNAWM=-0.0073 [95% CI, -0.0133 to -0.0014] %/mm Hg per 10-fold increase in percentage intracranial volume), more lacunes (BNAWM=-0.00129 [95% CI, -0.00215 to -0.00043] %/mm Hg per lacune), more microbleeds (BNAWM=-0.00083 [95% CI, -0.00130 to -0.00036] %/mm Hg per microbleed), higher deep atrophy score (BNAWM=-0.00218 [95% CI, -0.00417 to -0.00020] %/mm Hg per score point increase), higher perivascular space score (BNAWM=-0.0034 [95% CI, -0.0066 to -0.0002] %/mm Hg per score point increase in basal ganglia), and higher SVD score (BNAWM=-0.0048 [95% CI, -0.0075 to -0.0021] %/mm Hg per score point increase). Lower CVR in normal-appearing tissues was related to lower Montreal Cognitive Assessment without reaching convention statistical significance (BNAWM=0.00065 [95% CI, -0.00007 to 0.00137] %/mm Hg per score point increase).

CONCLUSIONS

Lower CVR in patients with SVD was related to more severe SVD burden and worse cognition in this cross-sectional analysis. Longitudinal analysis will help determine whether lower CVR predicts worsening SVD severity or vice versa.

REGISTRATION

URL: https://www.isrctn.com; Unique identifier: ISRCTN12113543.

Assessment of brainstem function and haemodynamics by MRI: challenges and clinical prospects

MRI offers techniques for non-invasively measuring a range of aspects of brain tissue function. Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is widely used to assess neural activity, based on the brain's haemodynamic response, while arterial spin labelling (ASL) MRI is a non-invasive method of quantitatively mapping cerebral perfusion. Both techniques can be applied to measure cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), an important marker of the health of the cerebrovascular system. BOLD, ASL and CVR have been applied to study a variety of disease processes and are already used in certain clinical circumstances. The brainstem is a critical component of the central nervous system and is implicated in a variety of disease processes. However, its function is difficult to study using MRI because of its small size and susceptibility to physiological noise. In this article, we review the physical and biological underpinnings of BOLD and ASL and their application to measure CVR, discuss the challenges associated with applying them to the brainstem and the opportunities for brainstem MRI in the research and clinical settings. With further optimisation, functional MRI techniques could feasibly be used to assess brainstem haemodynamics and neural activity in the clinical setting.

Cerebral Small Vessel Disease: a Review of the Pathophysiological Mechanisms

Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) refers to the age-dependent pathological processes involving the brain small vessels and leading to vascular cognitive impairment, intracerebral hemorrhage, and acute lacunar ischemic stroke. Despite the significant public health burden of cSVD, disease-specific therapeutics remain unavailable due to the incomplete understanding of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Recent advances in neuroimaging acquisition and processing capabilities as well as findings from cSVD animal models have revealed critical roles of several age-dependent processes in cSVD pathogenesis including arterial stiffness, vascular oxidative stress, low-grade systemic inflammation, gut dysbiosis, and increased salt intake. These factors interact to cause a state of endothelial cell dysfunction impairing cerebral blood flow regulation and breaking the blood brain barrier. Neuroinflammation follows resulting in neuronal injury and cSVD clinical manifestations. Impairment of the cerebral waste clearance through the glymphatic system is another potential process that has been recently highlighted contributing to the cognitive decline. This review details these mechanisms and attempts to explain their complex interactions. In addition, the relevant knowledge gaps in cSVD mechanistic understanding are identified and a systematic approach to future translational and early phase clinical research is proposed in order to reveal new cSVD mechanisms and develop disease-specific therapeutics.

Detection and Mitigation of Neurovascular Uncoupling in Brain Gliomas

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) technique is useful for preoperative mapping of brain functional networks in tumor patients, providing reliable in vivo detection of eloquent cortex to help reduce the risk of postsurgical morbidity. BOLD task-based fMRI (tb-fMRI) is the most often used noninvasive method that can reliably map cortical networks, including those associated with sensorimotor, language, and visual functions. BOLD resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) is emerging as a promising ancillary tool for visualization of diverse functional networks. Although fMRI is a powerful tool that can be used as an adjunct for brain tumor surgery planning, it has some constraints that should be taken into consideration for proper clinical interpretation. BOLD fMRI interpretation may be limited by neurovascular uncoupling (NVU) induced by brain tumors. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) mapping obtained using breath-hold methods is an effective method for evaluating NVU potential.

The Significance and Limited Influence of Cerebrovascular Reactivity on Age and Sex Effects in Task- and Resting-State Brain Activity

Functional MRI (fMRI) measures the blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signals, which provide an indirect measure of neural activity mediated by neurovascular responses. Cerebrovascular reactivity affects both task-induced and resting-state BOLD activity and may confound inter-individual effects observed in BOLD-based measures, such as those related to aging and biological sex. To investigate this, we examined a large open-access fMRI dataset containing a breath-holding task, checkerboard task, and resting-state scans. We used the breath-holding task to measure cerebrovascular reactivity, used the checkerboard task to obtain task-based activations, and from the resting-state data, we quantified the resting-state amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), and resting-state regional homogeneity (ReHo). We hypothesized that cerebrovascular reactivity would be correlated with BOLD measures and that accounting for these correlations would result in better estimates of age and sex effects. Our analysis showed that cerebrovascular reactivity was correlated with checkerboard task activations in the visual cortex and with ALFF and ReHo in widespread fronto-parietal regions, as well as regions with large vessels. We also found significant age and sex effects in cerebrovascular reactivity, some of which overlapped with those observed in ALFF and ReHo scores. Finally, we demonstrated that correcting for the effects of cerebrovascular reactivity had very limited influence on the estimates of age and sex. Our results highlight the limitations of accounting for cerebrovascular reactivity with the current breath-holding task.

Convolutional Neural Networks to Assess Steno-Occlusive Disease Using Cerebrovascular Reactivity

Cerebrovascular Reactivity (CVR) is a provocative test used with Blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies, where a vasoactive stimulus is applied and the corresponding changes in the cerebral blood flow (CBF) are measured. The most common clinical application is the assessment of cerebral perfusion insufficiency in patients with steno-occlusive disease (SOD). Globally, millions of people suffer from cerebrovascular diseases, and SOD is the most common cause of ischemic stroke. Therefore, CVR analyses can play a vital role in early diagnosis and guiding clinical treatment. This study develops a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based clinical decision support system to facilitate the screening of SOD patients by discriminating between healthy and unhealthy CVR maps. The networks were trained on a confidential CVR dataset with two classes: 68 healthy control subjects, and 163 SOD patients. This original dataset was distributed in a ratio of 80%-10%-10% for training, validation, and testing, respectively, and image augmentations were applied to the training and validation sets. Additionally, some popular pre-trained networks were imported and customized for the objective classification task to conduct transfer learning experiments. Results indicate that a customized CNN with a double-stacked convolution layer architecture produces the best results, consistent with expert clinical readings.

Fiberoptic hemodynamic spectroscopy reveals abnormal cerebrovascular reactivity in a freely moving mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Many Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients suffer from altered cerebral blood flow and damaged cerebral vasculature. Cerebrovascular dysfunction could play an important role in this disease. However, the mechanism underlying a vascular contribution in AD is still unclear. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) is a critical mechanism that maintains cerebral blood flow and brain homeostasis. Most current methods to analyze CVR require anesthesia which is known to hamper the investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying CVR. We therefore combined spectroscopy, spectral analysis software, and an implantable device to measure cerebral blood volume fraction (CBVF) and oxygen saturation (SO2) in unanesthetized, freely-moving mice. Then, we analyzed basal CBVF and SO2, and CVR of 5-month-old C57BL/6 mice during hypercapnia as well as during basic behavior such as grooming, walking and running. Moreover, we analyzed the CVR of freely-moving AD mice and their wildtype (WT) littermates during hypercapnia and could find impaired CVR in AD mice compared to WT littermates. Our results suggest that this optomechanical approach to reproducibly getting light into the brain enabled us to successfully measure CVR in unanesthetized freely-moving mice and to find impaired CVR in a mouse model of AD.

Neuroimaging standards for research into small vessel disease-advances since 2013

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is common during ageing and can present as stroke, cognitive decline, neurobehavioural symptoms, or functional impairment. SVD frequently coexists with neurodegenerative disease, and can exacerbate cognitive and other symptoms and affect activities of daily living. Standards for Reporting Vascular Changes on Neuroimaging 1 (STRIVE-1) categorised and standardised the diverse features of SVD that are visible on structural MRI. Since then, new information on these established SVD markers and novel MRI sequences and imaging features have emerged. As the effect of combined SVD imaging features becomes clearer, a key role for quantitative imaging biomarkers to determine sub-visible tissue damage, subtle abnormalities visible at high-field strength MRI, and lesion-symptom patterns, is also apparent. Together with rapidly emerging machine learning methods, these metrics can more comprehensively capture the effect of SVD on the brain than the structural MRI features alone and serve as intermediary outcomes in clinical trials and future routine practice. Using a similar approach to that adopted in STRIVE-1, we updated the guidance on neuroimaging of vascular changes in studies of ageing and neurodegeneration to create STRIVE-2.

Impact of region of interest definition on visual stimulation-based cerebral vascular reactivity functional MRI with a special focus on applications in cerebral amyloid angiopathy

Cerebral vascular reactivity quantified using blood oxygen level-dependent functional MRI in conjuncture with a visual stimulus has been proven to be a potent and early marker for cerebral amyloid angiopathy. This work investigates the influence of different postprocessing methods on the outcome of such vascular reactivity measurements. Three methods for defining the region of interest (ROI) over which the reactivity is measured are investigated: structural (transformed V1), functional (template based on the activation of a subset of subjects), and percentile (11.5 cm³ most responding voxels). Evaluation is performed both in a test-retest experiment in healthy volunteers (N = 12), as well as in 27 Dutch-type cerebral amyloid angiopathy patients and 33 age- and sex-matched control subjects. The results show that the three methods select a different subset of voxels, although all three lead to similar outcome measures in healthy subjects. However, in (severe) pathology, the percentile method leads to higher reactivity measures than the other two, due to circular analysis or "double dipping" by defining a subject-specific ROI based on the strongest responses within each subject. Furthermore, while different voxels are included in the presence of lesions, this does not necessarily result in different outcome measures. In conclusion, to avoid bias created by the method, either a structural or a functional method is recommended. Both of these methods provide similar reactivity measures, although the functional ROI appears to be less reproducible between studies, because slightly different subsets of voxels were found to be included. On the other hand, the functional method did include fewer lesion voxels than the structural method.

Understanding recovery of language after stroke: insights from neurovascular MRI studies

Stroke causes a disruption in blood flow to the brain that can lead to profound language impairments. Understanding the mechanisms of language recovery after stroke is crucial for the prognosis and effective rehabilitation of people with aphasia. While the role of injured brain structures and disruptions in functional connectivity have been extensively explored, the relationship between neurovascular measures and language recovery in both early and later stages has not received sufficient attention in the field. Fully functioning healthy brain tissue requires oxygen and nutrients to be delivered promptly via its blood supply. Persistent decreases in blood flow after a stroke to the remaining non-lesioned tissue have been shown to contribute to poor language recovery. The goal of the current paper is to critically examine stroke studies looking at the relationship between different neurovascular measures and language deficits and mechanisms of language recovery via changes in neurovascular metrics. Measures of perfusion or cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) provide complementary approaches to understanding neurovascular mechanisms post stroke by capturing both cerebral metabolic demands and mechanical vascular properties. While CBF measures indicate the amount of blood delivered to a certain region and serve as a proxy for metabolic demands of that area, CVR indices reflect the ability of the vasculature to recruit blood flow in response to a shortage of oxygen, such as when one is holding their breath. Increases in CBF during recovery beyond the site of the lesion have been shown to promote language gains. Similarly, CVR changes, when collateral vessels are recruited to help reorganize the flow of blood in hypoperfused regions, have been related to functional recovery post stroke. In the current review, we highlight the main findings in the literature investigating neurovascular changes in stroke recovery with a particular emphasis on how language abilities can be affected by changes in CBF and CVR. We conclude by summarizing existing methodological challenges and knowledge gaps that need to be addressed in future work in this area, outlining a promising avenue of research.

Cerebrovascular Reactivity and Concussion

Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) reflects the change in cerebral blood flow in response to vasodilatory stimuli enabling assessment of the health of the cerebral vasculature. Recent advances in the quantitative delivery of CO2 stimuli with computer-controlled sequential gas delivery have enabled mapping of the speed and magnitude of response to flow stimuli. These CVR advances when applied to patients with acute concussion have unexpectedly shown faster speed and greater magnitude of responses unseen in other diseases that typically show the opposite effects. The strength of the CVR alterations have diagnostic potential in single subjects with AUC values in the 0.90-0.94 range.

Altered Cerebral Vasoreactivity on Transcranial Color-Coded Sonography Related to Akinetic-Rigid Phenotype of Parkinson's Disease: Interim Analysis of a Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

A correlation between worse functional outcomes in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with cerebrovascular disease (CVD) or the Akinetic-rigid phenotype has been argued in recent studies. We aimed to evaluate the association of cerebral hemodynamics impairments, assessed by Transcranial Color-coded Doppler sonography (TCCS), on PD patients with different phenotypes of the disease and with risk factors for CVD.

METHODOLOGY

Idiopathic PD patients (n = 51) were divided into motor subtypes: Akinetic-rigid (AR) (n = 27) and Tremor-dominant (TD) (n = 24) and into two groups regarding vascular risk factors: when ≥2 were present (PDvasc) (n = 18) and <2 (PDnvasc) (n = 33). In a parallel analysis, the Fazekas scale on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was applied to a sample to assess the degree of leukoaraiosis. TCCS examinations were prospectively performed obtaining middle cerebral artery Mean Flow Velocities (Vm), Resistance Index (RI), and Pulsatility Index (PI). The Breath-Holding Index (BHI) was calculated to assess cerebrovascular reactivity (cVR). Standardized functional scales were administered (UPDRS III and Hoehn&Yahr).

RESULTS

The phenotype groups were similar in age, disease duration and demographic parameters, but there were significantly higher H&Y scores than TD group. cVR was impaired in 66.7% of AR vs. 37.5% of TD. AR group exhibited lower BHI (0.53 ± 0.31 vs. 0.91 ± 0.62; p = 0.000), lower Vm after apnea (44.3 ± 9.0 cm/s vs. 53.4 ± 11.4 cm/s; p = 0.003), higher PI (0.91 ± 0.26 vs. 0.76 ± 0.12; p = 0.000) and RI (0.58 ± 0.11 vs. 0.52 ± 0.06; p = 0.021). PDvasc group showed higher PI (0.98 vs. 0.76; p = 0.001) and higher frequency of altered cVR (72.2% vs. 42.2%; p = 0.004). There was a significant predominance of higher values on Fazekas scale in the PDvasc group. We found no difference between the Fazekas scale when comparing motor subtypes groups but there was a trend toward higher scores in the AR phenotype.

CONCLUSIONS

TCCS, a cost-effective method, displayed impaired cVR in Parkinsonian patients with risk factors for CVD with higher degree of MRI leukoaraiosis. PD patients with the AR disease phenotype also presented impaired cVR on TCCS and greater functional impairment, although with just a trend to higher scores on MRI Fazekas.

Hemodynamic timing in resting-state and breathing-task BOLD fMRI

The blood flow response to a vasoactive stimulus demonstrates regional heterogeneity across both the healthy brain and in cerebrovascular pathology. The timing of a regional hemodynamic response is emerging as an important biomarker of cerebrovascular dysfunction, as well as a confound within fMRI analyses. Previous research demonstrated that hemodynamic timing is more robustly characterized when a larger systemic vascular response is evoked by a breathing challenge, compared to when only spontaneous fluctuations in vascular physiology are present (i.e., in resting-state data). However, it is not clear whether hemodynamic delays in these two conditions are physiologically interchangeable, and how methodological signal-to-noise factors may limit their agreement. To address this, we generated whole-brain maps of hemodynamic delays in nine healthy adults. We assessed the agreement of voxel-wise gray matter (GM) hemodynamic delays between two conditions: resting-state and breath-holding. We found that delay values demonstrated poor agreement when considering all GM voxels, but increasingly greater agreement when limiting analyses to voxels showing strong correlation with the GM mean time-series. Voxels showing the strongest agreement with the GM mean time-series were primarily located near large venous vessels, however these voxels explain some, but not all, of the observed agreement in timing. Increasing the degree of spatial smoothing of the fMRI data enhanced the correlation between individual voxel time-series and the GM mean time-series. These results suggest that signal-to-noise factors may be limiting the accuracy of voxel-wise timing estimates and hence their agreement between the two data segments. In conclusion, caution must be taken when using voxel-wise delay estimates from resting-state and breathing-task data interchangeably, and additional work is needed to evaluate their relative sensitivity and specificity to aspects of vascular physiology and pathology.

Brain Vascular Health in ALS Is Mediated through Motor Cortex Microvascular Integrity

Brain vascular health appears to be critical for preventing the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and slowing its progression. ALS patients often demonstrate cardiovascular risk factors and commonly suffer from cerebrovascular disease, with evidence of pathological alterations in their small cerebral blood vessels. Impaired vascular brain health has detrimental effects on motor neurons: vascular endothelial growth factor levels are lowered in ALS, which can compromise endothelial cell formation and the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. Increased turnover of neurovascular unit cells precedes their senescence, which, together with pericyte alterations, further fosters the failure of toxic metabolite removal. We here provide a comprehensive overview of the pathogenesis of impaired brain vascular health in ALS and how novel magnetic resonance imaging techniques can aid its detection. In particular, we discuss vascular patterns of blood supply to the motor cortex with the number of branches from the anterior and middle cerebral arteries acting as a novel marker of resistance and resilience against downstream effects of vascular risk and events in ALS. We outline how certain interventions adapted to patient needs and capabilities have the potential to mechanistically target the brain microvasculature towards favorable motor cortex blood supply patterns. Through this strategy, we aim to guide novel approaches to ALS management and a better understanding of ALS pathophysiology.

Comparing end-tidal CO2, respiration volume per time (RVT), and average gray matter signal for mapping cerebrovascular reactivity amplitude and delay with breath-hold task BOLD fMRI

Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), defined as the cerebral blood flow response to a vasoactive stimulus, is an imaging biomarker with demonstrated utility in a range of diseases and in typical development and aging processes. A robust and widely implemented method to map CVR involves using a breath-hold task during a BOLD fMRI scan. Recording end-tidal CO₂ (P_ETCO₂) changes during the breath-hold task is recommended to be used as a reference signal for modeling CVR amplitude in standard units (%BOLD/mmHg) and CVR delay in seconds. However, obtaining reliable P_ETCO₂ recordings requires equipment and task compliance that may not be achievable in all settings. To address this challenge, we investigated two alternative reference signals to map CVR amplitude and delay in a lagged general linear model (lagged-GLM) framework: respiration volume per time (RVT) and average gray matter BOLD response (GM-BOLD). In 8 healthy adults with multiple scan sessions, we compare spatial agreement of CVR maps from RVT and GM-BOLD to those generated with P_ETCO₂. We define a threshold to determine whether a P_ETCO₂ recording has "sufficient" quality for CVR mapping and perform these comparisons in 16 datasets with sufficient P_ETCO₂ and 6 datasets with insufficient P_ETCO₂. When P_ETCO₂ quality is sufficient, both RVT and GM-BOLD produce CVR amplitude maps that are nearly identical to those from P_ETCO₂ (after accounting for differences in scale), with the caveat they are not in standard units to facilitate between-group comparisons. CVR delays are comparable to P_ETCO₂ with an RVT regressor but may be underestimated with the average GM-BOLD regressor. Importantly, when P_ETCO₂ quality is insufficient, RVT and GM-BOLD CVR recover reasonable CVR amplitude and delay maps, provided the participant attempted the breath-hold task. Therefore, our framework offers a solution for achieving high quality CVR maps in both retrospective and prospective studies where sufficient P_ETCO₂ recordings are not available and especially in populations where obtaining reliable measurements is a known challenge (e.g., children). Our results have the potential to improve the accessibility of CVR mapping and to increase the prevalence of this promising metric of vascular health.

A Systematic Review of the Association Between Dementia Risk Factors and Cerebrovascular Reactivity

Cumulative evidence suggests that impaired cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), a regulatory response critical for maintaining neuronal health, is amongst the earliest pathological changes in dementia. However, we know little about how CVR is affected by dementia risk, prior to disease onset. Understanding this relationship would improve our knowledge of disease pathways and help inform preventative interventions. This systematic review investigates 59 studies examining how CVR (measured by magnetic resonance imaging) is affected by modifiable, non-modifiable, and clinical risk factors for dementia. We report that non-modifiable risk (older age and apolipoprotein ε4), some modifiable factors (diabetes, traumatic brain injury, hypertension) and some clinical factors (stroke, carotid artery occlusion, stenosis) were consistently associated with reduced CVR. We also note a lack of conclusive evidence on how other behavioural factors such as physical inactivity, obesity, or depression, affect CVR. This review explores the biological mechanisms underpinning these brain- behaviour associations, highlights evident gaps in the literature, and identifies the risk factors that could be managed to preserve CVR in an effort to prevent dementia.

Cerebrovascular reactivity measurements using 3T BOLD MRI and a fixed inhaled CO2 gas challenge: Repeatability and impact of processing strategy

Introduction: Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) measurements using blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are commonly used to assess the health of cerebral blood vessels, including in patients with cerebrovascular diseases; however, evidence and consensus regarding reliability and optimal processing are lacking. We aimed to assess the repeatability, accuracy and precision of voxel- and region-based CVR measurements at 3 T using a fixed inhaled (FI) CO₂ stimulus in a healthy cohort. Methods: We simulated the effect of noise, delay constraints and voxel- versus region-based analysis on CVR parameters. Results were verified in 15 healthy volunteers (28.1±5.5 years, female: 53%) with a test-retest MRI experiment consisting of two CVR scans. CVR magnitude and delay in grey matter (GM) and white matter were computed for both analyses assuming a linear relationship between the BOLD signal and time-shifted end-tidal CO₂ (EtCO₂) profile. Results: Test-retest repeatability was high [mean (95% CI) inter-scan difference: -0.01 (-0.03, -0.00) %/mmHg for GM CVR magnitude; -0.3 (-1.2,0.6) s for GM CVR delay], but we detected a small systematic reduction in CVR magnitude at scan 2 versus scan 1, accompanied by a greater EtCO2 change [±1.0 (0.4,1.5) mmHg] and lower heart rate [-5.5 (-8.6,-2.4] bpm]. CVR magnitude estimates were higher for voxel- versus region-based analysis [difference in GM: ±0.02 (0.01,0.03) %/mmHg]. Findings were supported by simulation results, predicting a positive bias for voxel-based CVR estimates dependent on temporal contrast-to-noise ratio and delay fitting constraints and an underestimation for region-based CVR estimates. Discussion: BOLD CVR measurements using FI stimulus have good within-day repeatability in healthy volunteers. However, measurements may be influenced by physiological effects and the analysis protocol. Voxel-based analyses should be undertaken with care due to potential for systematic bias; region-based analyses are more reliable in such cases.

Retinal capillary microvessel morphology changes are associated with vascular damage and dysfunction in cerebral small vessel disease

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a cause of stroke and dementia. Retinal capillary microvessels revealed by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) are developmentally related to brain microvessels. We quantified retinal vessel density (VD) and branching complexity, investigating relationships with SVD lesions, white matter integrity on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) to CO2 in patients with minor stroke. We enrolled 123 patients (mean age 68.1 ± SD 9.9 years), 115 contributed retinal data. Right (R) and left (L) eyes are reported. After adjusting for age, eye disease, diabetes, blood pressure and image quality, lower VD remained associated with higher mean diffusivity (MD) (standardized β; R -0.16 [95%CI -0.32 to -0.01]) and lower CVR (L 0.17 [0.03 to 0.31] and R 0.19 [0.02 to 0.36]) in normal appearing white matter (NAWM). Sparser branching remained associated with sub-visible white matter damage shown by higher MD (R -0.24 [-0.08 to -0.40]), lower fractional anisotropy (FA) (L 0.17 [0.01 to 0.33]), and lower CVR (R 0.20 [0.02 to 0.38]) in NAWM. OCTA-derived metrics provide evidence of microvessel abnormalities that may underpin SVD lesions in the brain.

CADASIL Affects Multiple Aspects of Cerebral Small Vessel Function on 7T-MRI

OBJECTIVE

Cerebral small vessel diseases (cSVDs) are a major cause of stroke and dementia. We used cutting-edge 7T-MRI techniques in patients with Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), to establish which aspects of cerebral small vessel function are affected by this monogenic form of cSVD.

METHODS

We recruited 23 CADASIL patients (age 51.1 ± 10.1 years, 52% women) and 13 age- and sex-matched controls (46.1 ± 12.6, 46% women). Small vessel function measures included: basal ganglia and centrum semiovale perforating artery blood flow velocity and pulsatility, vascular reactivity to a visual stimulus in the occipital cortex and reactivity to hypercapnia in the cortex, subcortical gray matter, white matter, and white matter hyperintensities.

RESULTS

Compared with controls, CADASIL patients showed lower blood flow velocity and higher pulsatility index within perforating arteries of the centrum semiovale (mean difference - 0.09 cm/s, p = 0.03 and 0.20, p = 0.009) and basal ganglia (mean difference - 0.98 cm/s, p = 0.003 and 0.17, p = 0.06). Small vessel reactivity to a short visual stimulus was decreased (blood-oxygen-level dependent [BOLD] mean difference -0.21%, p = 0.04) in patients, while reactivity to hypercapnia was preserved in the cortex, subcortical gray matter, and normal appearing white matter. Among patients, reactivity to hypercapnia was decreased in white matter hyperintensities compared to normal appearing white matter (BOLD mean difference -0.29%, p = 0.02).

INTERPRETATION

Multiple aspects of cerebral small vessel function on 7T-MRI were abnormal in CADASIL patients, indicative of increased arteriolar stiffness and regional abnormalities in reactivity, locally also in relation to white matter injury. These observations provide novel markers of cSVD for mechanistic and intervention studies. ANN NEUROL 2023;93:29-39.

Advanced MRI in cerebral small vessel disease

Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) is a major cause of stroke and dementia. This review summarizes recent developments in advanced neuroimaging of cSVD with a focus on clinical and research applications. In the first section, we highlight how advanced structural imaging techniques, including diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), enable improved detection of tissue damage, including characterization of tissue appearing normal on conventional MRI. These techniques enable progression to be monitored and may be useful as surrogate endpoint in clinical trials. Quantitative MRI, including iron and myelin imaging, provides insights into tissue composition on the molecular level. In the second section, we cover how advanced MRI techniques can demonstrate functional or dynamic abnormalities of the blood vessels, which could be targeted in mechanistic research and early-stage intervention trials. Such techniques include the use of dynamic contrast enhanced MRI to measure blood-brain barrier permeability, and MRI methods to assess cerebrovascular reactivity. In the third section, we discuss how the increased spatial resolution provided by ultrahigh field MRI at 7 T allows imaging of perforating arteries, and flow velocity and pulsatility within them. The advanced MRI techniques we describe are providing novel pathophysiological insights in cSVD and allow improved quantification of disease burden and progression. They have application in clinical trials, both in assessing novel therapeutic mechanisms, and as a sensitive endpoint to assess efficacy of interventions on parenchymal tissue damage. We also discuss challenges of these advanced techniques and suggest future directions for research.

Neuroimaging in Pediatric Stroke

Pediatric stroke is unfortunately not a rare condition. It is associated with severe disability and mortality because of the complexity of potential clinical manifestations, and the resulting delay in seeking care and in diagnosis. Neuroimaging plays an important role in the multidisciplinary response for pediatric stroke patients. The rapid development of adult endovascular thrombectomy has created a new momentum in health professionals caring for pediatric stroke patients. Neuroimaging is critical to make decisions of identifying appropriate candidates for thrombectomy. This review article will review current neuroimaging techniques, imaging work-up strategies and special considerations in pediatric stroke. For resources limited areas, recommendation of substitute imaging approaches will be provided. Finally, promising new techniques and hypothesis-driven research protocols will be discussed.

CVR-MRICloud: An online processing tool for CO2-inhalation and resting-state cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) MRI data

Cerebrovascular Reactivity (CVR) provides an assessment of the brain’s vascular reserve and has been postulated to be a sensitive marker in cerebrovascular diseases. MRI-based CVR measurement typically employs alterations in arterial carbon dioxide (CO2) level while continuously acquiring Blood-Oxygenation-Level-Dependent (BOLD) images. CO2-inhalation and resting-state methods are two commonly used approaches for CVR MRI. However, processing of CVR MRI data often requires special expertise and may become an obstacle in broad utilization of this promising technique. The aim of this work was to develop CVR-MRICloud, a cloud-based CVR processing pipeline, to enable automated processing of CVR MRI data. The CVR-MRICloud consists of several major steps including extraction of end-tidal CO2 (EtCO2) curve from raw CO2 recording, alignment of EtCO2 curve with BOLD time course, computation of CVR value on a whole-brain, regional, and voxel-wise basis. The pipeline also includes standard BOLD image processing steps such as motion correction, registration between functional and anatomic images, and transformation of the CVR images to canonical space. This paper describes these algorithms and demonstrates the performance of the CVR-MRICloud in lifespan healthy subjects and patients with clinical conditions such as stroke, brain tumor, and Moyamoya disease. CVR-MRICloud has potential to be used as a data processing tool for a variety of basic science and clinical applications.

A healthy mind in a healthy body: Effects of arteriosclerosis and other risk factors on cognitive aging and dementia

In this review we start from the assumption that, to fully understand cognitive aging, it is important to embrace a holistic view, integrating changes in bodily, brain, and cognitive functions. This broad view can help explain individual differences in aging trajectories and could ultimately enable prevention and remediation strategies. As the title of this review suggests, we claim that there are not only indirect but also direct effects of various organ systems on the brain, creating cascades of phenomena that strongly contribute to age-related cognitive decline. Here we focus primarily on the cerebrovascular system, because of its direct effects on brain health and close connections with the development and progression of Alzheimer's Disease and other types of dementia. We start by reviewing the main cognitive changes that are often observed in normally aging older adults, as well as the brain systems that support them. Second, we provide a brief overview of the cerebrovascular system and its known effects on brain anatomy and function, with a focus on aging. Third, we review genetic and lifestyle risk factors that may affect the cerebrovascular system and ultimately contribute to cognitive decline. Lastly, we discuss this evidence, review limitations, and point out avenues for additional research and clinical intervention.

Cerebral blood flow dependency on systemic arterial circulation in progressive multiple sclerosis

OBJECTIVES

To determine the relationship between systemic arterial blood flow (SABF) and cerebral perfusion measures in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

METHODS

Cerebral perfusion and SABF were assessed in 118 patients (75 clinically isolated syndrome (CIS)/relapsing-remitting MS and 43 progressive MS) through MRI examination with dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion-weighted imaging (DSC-PWI) and Doppler ultrasound, respectively. Measures of mean transit time (MTT) and time-to-peak (TTP), measured in seconds, of the normal-appearing whole brain (NAWB) and gray matter (GM) were calculated. Blood flow through the bilateral common carotid and vertebral arteries (in mL/min) represents the SABF. Whole brain volume (WBV) and body mass index (BMI) were used as additional covariates.

RESULTS

Higher systolic blood pressure was associated with lower SABF (-0.256, p = 0.006). In the total MS sample, higher SABF was associated with shorter MTT and TTP of the NAWB (r = -0.256, p = 0.007 and r = -0.307, p = 0.001) and GM (r = -0.239, p = 0.012 and r = -0.3, p = 0.001). The SABF and TTP associations were driven by the PMS patients (r = -0.451, p = 0.004 and r = -0.451, p = 0.011). Only in PMS, SABF remained a significant predictor of NAWB (standardized β = -0.394, p = 0.022) and GM TTP (standardized β = -0.351, p = 0.037). MTT and TTP were significantly lower in patients within lower SABF quartiles when compared to the higher quartiles (age-, sex-, BMI-, and WBV-adjusted ANCOVA p < 0.025).

CONCLUSIONS

The direct relationship between systemic and cerebral blood flow seen in PMS patients may suggest failure in cerebrovascular reactivity mechanisms and insufficient perfusion control. Cerebral blood flow in PMS may be increasingly dependent on the SABF.

KEY POINTS

• In progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, the systemic arterial blood flow (SABF) is associated with perfusion-based measure of time-to-peak (TTP) of the normal-appearing whole brain (r = -0.451, p = 0.004) and gray matter (r = -0.451, p = 0.004). • Cerebral blood flow in progressive MS is directly dependent on systemic arterial blood flow and may be influenced by blood pressure changes. • Neurovascular unit impairment may play an important role in MS pathophysiology and contribute towards greater clinical disability.

Prevalence and Significance of the Vessel-Cluster Sign on Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging in Patients With Severe Small Vessel Disease

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Magnetic resonance susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) can identify small brain blood vessels that contain deoxygenated blood due to its induced magnetic field disturbance. We observed focal clusters of possible dilated small vessels on SWI in white matter in severe small vessel disease (SVD). We assessed their prevalence, associations with SVD lesions, and vascular reactivity in patients with sporadic SVD and in patients with cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL).

METHODS

Secondary cross-sectional analysis of a prospective multicenter observational study of patients with either sporadic SVD or CADASIL (INVESTIGATE-SVD) studied with 3 Tesla MRI including blood-oxygen-level-dependent MRI cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR). Two independent raters evaluated SWI sequences to identify "vessel-clusters" in white matter as focal low-signal dots/lines with small vessel appearance (interrater agreement, kappa statistic = 0.66). We assessed per-patient and per-cluster associations with SVD lesion type and severity on structural MRI sequences. We also assessed CVR within and at 2-voxel concentric intervals around the vessel-clusters using contralateral volumes as a reference.

RESULTS

Among the 77 patients enrolled, 76 had usable SWI sequences, 45 with sporadic SVD (mean age 64 years [SD 11], 26 men [58%]) and 31 with CADASIL (53 years [11], 15 men [48%]). We identified 94 vessel-clusters in 36 of the 76 patients (15/45 sporadic SVD, 21/31 CADASIL). In covariate-adjusted analysis, patients with vessel-clusters had more lacunes (OR, 95% CI) (1.30, 1.05-1.62), higher white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume (per-log10 increase, 1.92, 1.04-3.56), and lower CVR in normal appearing white matter (per %/mm Hg, 0.77, 0.60-0.99), compared with patients without vessel-clusters. Fifty-seven of the 94 vessel-clusters (61%) corresponded to noncavitated or partially cavitated WMH on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, and 37 of 94 (39%) to complete cavities. CVR magnitude was lower than in the corresponding contralateral volumes (mean difference [SD], t, p) within vessel-cluster volumes (-0.00046 [0.00088], -3.021, 0.005) and in the surrounding volume expansion shells up to 4 voxels (-0.00011 [0.00031], -2.140, 0.039; -0.00010 [0.00027], -2.295, 0.028) in vessel-clusters with complete cavities, but not in vessel-clusters without complete cavitation.

DISCUSSION

Vessel-clusters might correspond to maximally dilated vessels in white matter that are approaching complete tissue injury and cavitation. The pathophysiologic significance of this new feature warrants further longitudinal investigation.

The Relationship between Cerebrovascular Reactivity and Cerebral Oxygenation During Hemodialysis

BACKGROUND

Patients with kidney failure treated with hemodialysis (HD) may be at risk for cerebral hypoperfusion due to HD-induced BP decline in the setting of impaired cerebral autoregulation. Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), the cerebrovascular response to vasoactive stimuli, may be a useful indicator of cerebral autoregulation in the HD population and identify those at risk for cerebral hypoperfusion. We hypothesize that CVR combined with intradialytic BP changes will be associated with declines in cerebral oxygenation saturation (ScO₂) during HD.

METHODS

Participants completed the MRI scans on a non-HD day and cerebral oximetry during HD. We measured CVR with resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) without a gas challenge and ScO₂ saturation with near-infrared spectroscopy. Regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between intradialytic cerebral oxygen desaturation, intradialytic BP, and CVR in different gray matter regions.

RESULTS

Twenty-six patients on HD had complete data for analysis. Sixteen patients were men, 18 had diabetes, and 20 had hypertension. Mean±SD age was 65.3±7.2 years, and mean±SD duration on HD was 11.5±9.4 months. CVR in the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG; P=0.03, r² =0.19) and insular cortex (IC; P=0.03, r² =0.19) regions negatively correlated with decline in intradialytic ScO₂. Model prediction of intradialytic ScO₂ improved when including intradialytic BP change and ultrafiltration rate to the ACG rsCVR (P<0.01, r² =0.48) and IC rsCVR (P=0.02, r² =0.35) models, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

We found significant relationships between regional rsCVR measured in the brain and decline in intradialytic ScO₂. Our results warrant further exploration of using CVR in determining a patient's risk of cerebral ischemic injury during HD.

Assessment of microvascular rarefaction in human brain disorders using physiological magnetic resonance imaging

Cerebral microvascular rarefaction, the reduction in number of functional or structural small blood vessels in the brain, is thought to play an important role in the early stages of microvascular related brain disorders. A better understanding of its underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, and methods to measure microvascular density in the human brain are needed to develop biomarkers for early diagnosis and to identify targets for disease modifying treatments. Therefore, we provide an overview of the assumed main pathophysiological processes underlying cerebral microvascular rarefaction and the evidence for rarefaction in several microvascular related brain disorders. A number of advanced physiological MRI techniques can be used to measure the pathological alterations associated with microvascular rarefaction. Although more research is needed to explore and validate these MRI techniques in microvascular rarefaction in brain disorders, they provide a set of promising future tools to assess various features relevant for rarefaction, such as cerebral blood flow and volume, vessel density and radius and blood-brain barrier leakage.

Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography as a Diagnostic Tool for Cerebrovascular Disorders

Imaging techniques including transcranial Doppler (TCD), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and cerebral angiography are available for cerebrovascular disease diagnosis. TCD is a less expensive, non-invasive, and practically simpler approach to diagnosing cerebrovascular disorders than the others. TCD is a commonly available and inexpensive diagnostic tool. However, owing to its large operator dependency, it has a narrow application area. Cerebrovascular disease indicates a group of disorders that alter the flow of blood in the brain. The brain’s functions can be temporarily or permanently impaired as a result of this change in blood flow. Timely diagnosis and treatment can restore the brain-impaired functions, resulting in a much-improved prognosis for the patients. This review summarizes the basic principles underlying the TCD imaging technique and its utility as a diagnostic tool for cerebrovascular disease.

Metabolic and functional connectivity provide unique and complementary insights into cognition-connectome relationships

A major challenge in current cognitive neuroscience is how functional brain connectivity gives rise to human cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) describes brain connectivity based on cerebral oxygenation dynamics (hemodynamic connectivity), whereas [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose functional positron emission tomography (FDG-fPET) describes brain connectivity based on cerebral glucose uptake (metabolic connectivity), each providing a unique characterization of the human brain. How these 2 modalities differ in their contribution to cognition and behavior is unclear. We used simultaneous resting-state FDG-fPET/fMRI to investigate how hemodynamic connectivity and metabolic connectivity relate to cognitive function by applying partial least squares analyses. Results revealed that although for both modalities the frontoparietal anatomical subdivisions related the strongest to cognition, using hemodynamic measures this network expressed executive functioning, episodic memory, and depression, whereas for metabolic measures this network exclusively expressed executive functioning. These findings demonstrate the unique advantages that simultaneous FDG-PET/fMRI has to provide a comprehensive understanding of the neural mechanisms that underpin cognition and highlights the importance of multimodality imaging in cognitive neuroscience research.

New Insights Into Cerebrovascular Pathophysiology and Hypertension

Despite advances in acute management and prevention of cerebrovascular disease, stroke and vascular cognitive impairment together remain the world's leading cause of death and neurological disability. Hypertension and its consequences are associated with over 50% of ischemic and 70% of hemorrhagic strokes but despite good control of blood pressure (BP), there remains a 10% risk of recurrent cerebrovascular events, and there is no proven strategy to prevent vascular cognitive impairment. Hypertension evolves over the lifespan, from predominant sympathetically driven hypertension with elevated mean BP in early and mid-life to a late-life phenotype of increasing systolic and falling diastolic pressures, associated with increased arterial stiffness and aortic pulsatility. This pattern may partially explain both the increasing incidence of stroke in younger adults as well as late-onset, chronic cerebrovascular injury associated with concurrent systolic hypertension and historic mid-life diastolic hypertension. With increasing arterial stiffness and autonomic dysfunction, BP variability increases, independently predicting the risk of ischemic and intracerebral hemorrhage, and is potentially modifiable beyond control of mean BP. However, the interaction between hypertension and control of cerebral blood flow remains poorly understood. Cerebral small vessel disease is associated with increased pulsatility in large cerebral vessels and reduced reactivity to carbon dioxide, both of which are being targeted in early phase clinical trials. Cerebral arterial pulsatility is mainly dependent upon increased transmission of aortic pulsatility via stiff vessels to the brain, while cerebrovascular reactivity reflects endothelial dysfunction. In contrast, although cerebral autoregulation is critical to adapt cerebral tone to BP fluctuations to maintain cerebral blood flow, its role as a modifiable risk factor for cerebrovascular disease is uncertain. New insights into hypertension-associated cerebrovascular pathophysiology may provide key targets to prevent chronic cerebrovascular disease, acute events, and vascular cognitive impairment.

Study of cerebrovascular reactivity to hypercapnia by imaging photoplethysmography to develop a method for intraoperative assessment of the brain functional reserve

Intraoperative assessment of cerebrovascular reactivity is a relevant problem of neurosurgery. To assess the functional reserve of cerebral blood flow, we suggest using imaging photoplethysmography for measuring changes in cortical perfusion caused by CO₂ inhalation. Feasibility of the technique was demonstrated in three groups of anesthetized rats (n=21) with opened and closed cranial windows. Our study for the first time revealed that the hemodynamic response to hypercapnia strongly depends on the cranial state. However, it was shown that regardless of the direction of changes in local and systemic hemodynamics, the ratio of normalized changes in arterial blood pressure and cortical perfusion could be used as a measure of the cerebrovascular functional reserve.