Measurement of cerebrospinal fluid oxygen partial pressure in humans using MRI

Fluid‐attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images obtained during the administration of supplemental oxygen demonstrate a hyperintense signal within the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that is likely caused by T1 changes induced by paramagnetic molecular oxygen. Previous studies demonstrated a linear relationship between the longitudinal relaxation rate (R1 = 1/T1) and oxygen content, which permits quantification of the CSF oxygen partial pressure (PcsfO2). In the current study, CSF T1 was measured at 1.5 T in the lateral ventricles, third ventricle, cortical sulci, and basilar cisterns of eight normal subjects breathing room air or 100% oxygen. Phantom studies performed with artificial CSF enabled absolute PcsfO2 quantitation. Regional PcsfO2 differences on room air were observed, from 65 ± 27 mmHg in the basilar cisterns to 130 ± 49 mmHg in the third ventricle. During 100% oxygen, PcsfO2 increases of 155 ± 45 and 124 ± 34 mmHg were measured in the basilar cisterns and cortical sulci, respectively, with no change observed in the lateral or third ventricles. PcsfO2 measurements in humans breathing room air or 100% oxygen using a T1 method are comparable to results from invasive human and animal studies. Similar approaches could be applied to noninvasively monitor oxygenation in many acellular, low‐protein body fluids. Magn Reson Med 54:113–121, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

[1]  B. Weisner,et al.  Protein fractions of lumbar, cisternal, and ventricular cerebrospinal fluid Separate areas of reference , 1978, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[2]  K R Maravilla,et al.  Cerebrospinal fluid signal intensity increase on FLAIR MR images in patients under general anesthesia: the role of supplemental O2. , 2001, Radiology.

[3]  Yoshimi Anzai,et al.  Paramagnetic effect of supplemental oxygen on CSF hyperintensity on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MR images. , 2004, AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology.

[4]  A. J. Da Rocha,et al.  Relationship between the concentration of supplemental oxygen and signal intensity of CSF depicted by fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging. , 2003, AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology.

[5]  E. Gordon,et al.  THE OXYGEN TENSION OF CEREBROSPINAL FLUID IN PATIENTS WITH BRAIN LESIONS , 1970, Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica.

[6]  B. Berkowitz,et al.  Quantitative Mapping of Ocular Oxygenation Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging , 1995, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[7]  G. Chiarotti,et al.  Proton relaxation in pure liquids and in liquids containing paramagnetic gases in solution , 1955 .

[8]  J C Froment,et al.  Inhaled oxygen: a brain MR contrast agent? , 1995, AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology.

[9]  J. Pappenheimer,et al.  Oxygen pressure in urine and its relation to intrarenal blood flow. , 1958, The American journal of physiology.

[10]  B. Berkowitz,et al.  Role of dissolved plasma oxygen in hyperoxia-induced contrast. , 1997, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[11]  Peter B Kingsley,et al.  Optimized precision of inversion‐recovery T1 measurements for constrained scan time , 2004, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[12]  Nicolaas Bloembergen,et al.  Proton Relaxation Times in Paramagnetic Solutions , 1957 .

[13]  M. E. Mirhej.  PROTON SPIN RELAXATION BY PARAMAGNETIC MOLECULAR OXYGEN , 1965 .

[14]  S. Heckbert,et al.  Fraction of inspired oxygen in relation to cerebrospinal fluid hyperintensity on FLAIR MR imaging of the brain in children and young adults undergoing anesthesia. , 2002, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[15]  S. Meiboom,et al.  Proton Relaxation in Water , 1957 .

[16]  B. Condon,et al.  Temporal physicochemical changes during in vitro relaxation time measurements: The cerebrospinal fluid , 1988, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[17]  J. S. Hyde,et al.  Effect of oxygen and the lipid spin label TEMPO-laurate on fluorine-19 and proton relaxation rates of the perlluoroehemical blood substitute, FC-43 emulsion , 1984 .

[18]  George H. Weiss,et al.  A modified fast inversion-recovery technique for spin-lattice relaxation measurements☆ , 1980 .

[19]  B. Berkowitz,et al.  Adult and newborn rat inner retinal oxygenation during carbogen and 100% oxygen breathing. Comparison using magnetic resonance imaging delta Po2 mapping. , 1996, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[20]  A. Uluğ,et al.  Hyperintense signal abnormality in subarachnoid spaces and basal cisterns on MR images of children anesthetized with propofol: new fluid-attenuated inversion recovery finding. , 2001, AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology.

[21]  E. Skinhøj,et al.  Cisternal fluid oxygen tension in man , 1964, Neurology.

[22]  S. Bondurant,et al.  The Determinants of Cerebrospinal Fluid PO2: The Effects of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Breathing in Patients with Chronic Lung Disease , 1966 .

[23]  R. Fishman.  Cerebrospinal Fluid in Diseases of the Nervous System , 1992 .

[24]  F. Hellinger,et al.  A Study of Cerebrospinal Fluid Oxygen Tension: Preliminary Experimental and Clinical Observation , 1961 .

[25]  P S Tofts,et al.  Measuring the human retinal oxygenation response to a hyperoxic challenge using MRI: Eliminating blinking artifacts and demonstrating proof of concept , 2001, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[26]  Byron M. Bloon.  A STUDY OF CEREBROSPINAL FLUID OXYGEN TENSION , 1961 .

[27]  A Oatridge,et al.  Further observations on the measurement of tissue T1 to monitor temperature in vivo by MRI , 1994, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[28]  R. Klein,et al.  Dynamics of oxygen transfer in the cerebrospinal fluid. , 1968, Respiration physiology.

[29]  H. Gänshirt.  [Oxygen pressure in the cerebrospinal fluid]. , 1966, Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift.

[30]  A. Hopkins,et al.  Multiple field strength in vivo T1 and T2 for cerebrospinal fluid protons , 1986, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[31]  R. Boots,et al.  The continuous measurement of cerebrospinal fluid gas tensions in critically ill neurosurgical patients: a prospective observational study , 1999, Intensive Care Medicine.

[32]  B. Berkowitz,et al.  MR studies of retinal oxygenation , 2001, Vision Research.

[33]  B. Nilsson,et al.  Oxygen Tension, Carbon Dioxide Tension and pH In Amniotic Fluid and Maternal Arterial Blood During Induced Maternal Hyperoxia and Hypoxia , 1971, Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica.