Determination of cerebral oxygen consumption and blood flow by magnetic resonance imaging.

Simultaneous 17O and 19F magnetic resonance imaging were used to determine the concentrations of H2(17)O and CHF3 in 0.8 cc voxels in the cat brain during in- and exhalation of a gas mixture containing both 17O2 and CHF3. The arterial time course of H2(17)O was determined by 17O MR analysis of arterial samples withdrawn during the inhalation period and the arterial time concentration of CHF3. The brain data and the arterial data for the two tracers were used to calculate the cerebral oxygen consumption (CMRO2) and the cerebral blood flow (CBF). The average values of CMRO2 and CBF for a 0.8 cc voxel in the parietal cortex were 1.5 +/- 0.5 mmol/kg/min and 38 +/- 15 ml/100g/min, respectively. 17O/19F MR imaging approach has the potential to image CMRO2 and CBF simultaneously in humans and might become a strong diagnostic tool.