Evaluation of the precision of magnetic resonance phase velocity mapping for blood flow measurements

Evaluating the in vivo accuracy of magnetic resonance phase velocity mapping (PVM) is not straightforward because of the absence of a validated clinical flow quantification technique. The aim of this study was to evaluate PVM by investigating its precision, both in vitro and in vivo, in a 1.5 Tesla scanner. In the former case, steady and pulsatile flow experiments were conducted using an aortic model under a variety of flow conditions (steady: 0.1-5.5 L/min; pulsatile: 10-75 mL/cycle). In the latter case, PVM measurements were taken in the ascending aorta of ten subjects, seven of which had aortic regurgitation. Each velocity measurement was taken twice, with the slice perpendicular to the long axis of the aorta. Comparison between the measured and true flow rates and volumes confirmed the high accuracy of PVM in measuring flow in vitro (p > 0.85). The in vitro precision of PVM was found to be very high (steady: y = 1.00x + 0.02, r = 0.999; pulsatile: y = 0.98x + 0.72, r = 0.997; x: measurement #1, y: measurement #2) and this was confirmed by Bland-Altman analysis. Of great clinical significance was the high level of the in vivo precision (y = 1.01x - 0.04, r = 0.993), confirmed statistically (p = 1.00). In conclusion, PVM provides repeatable blood flow measurements. The high in vitro accuracy and precision, combined with the high in vivo precision, are key factors for the establishment of PVM as the "gold-standard" to quantify blood flow.