Human cerebral blood volume measurements using dynamic contrast enhancement in comparison to dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI

Introduction: Cerebral blood volume (CBV) is an important parameter for the assessment of brain tumors, usually obtained using dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI. However, this method often suffers from low spatial resolution and high sensitivity to susceptibility artifacts and usually does not take into account the effect of tissue permeability. The plasma volume (v_p) can also be extracted from dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE) MRI. The aim of this study was to investigate whether DCE can be used for the measurement of cerebral blood volume in place of DSC for the assessment of patients with brain tumors. Methods: Twenty-eight subjects (17 healthy subjects and 11 patients with glioblastoma) were scanned using DCE and DSC. v_p and CBV values were measured and compared in different brain components in healthy subjects and in the tumor area in patients. Results: Significant high correlations were detected between v_p and CBV in healthy subjects in the different brain components; white matter, gray matter, and arteries, correlating with the known increased tissue vascularity, and within the tumor area in patients. Conclusion: This work proposes the use of DCE as an alternative method to DSC for the assessment of blood volume, given the advantages of its higher spatial resolution, its lower sensitivity to susceptibility artifacts, and its ability to provide additional information regarding tissue permeability.