On the Reproducibility of Inversion Recovery Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Imaging in Cerebrovascular Disease

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Intravoxel incoherent motion imaging can measure both microvascular and parenchymal abnormalities simultaneously. The contamination of CSF signal can be suppressed using inversion recovery preparation. The clinical feasibility of inversion recovery-intravoxel incoherent motion imaging was investigated in patients with cerebrovascular disease by studying its reproducibility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen patients with cerebrovascular disease (66 +/- 8 years of age) underwent inversion recovery-intravoxel incoherent motion imaging twice. The reproducibility of the perfusion volume fraction and parenchymal diffusivity was calculated with the coefficient of variation, intraclass correlation coefficient, and the repeatability coefficient. ROIs included the normal-appearing white matter, cortex, deep gray matter, white matter hyperintensities, and vascular lesions. RESULTS: Values for the perfusion volume fraction ranged from 2.42 to 3.97 x 10(-2) and for parenchymal diffusivity from 7.20 to 9.11 x 10(-4) mm(2)/s, with higher values found in the white matter hyperintensities and vascular lesions. Coefficients of variation were < 3.70% in normal-appearing tissue and < 9.15% for lesions. Intraclass correlation coefficients were good to excellent, showing values ranging from 0.82 to 0.99 in all ROIs, except the deep gray matter and cortex, with intraclass correlation coefficients of 0.66 and 0.54, respectively. The repeatability coefficients ranged from 0.15 to 0.96 x 10(-2) and 0.10 to 0.37 x 10(-4) mm(2)/s for perfusion volume fraction and parenchymal diffusivity, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Good reproducibility of inversion recovery-intravoxel incoherent motion imaging was observed with low coefficients of variation and high intraclass correlation coefficients in normal-appearing tissue and lesion areas in cerebrovascular disease. Good reproducibility of inversion recovery-intravoxel incoherent motion imaging in cerebrovascular disease is feasible in monitoring disease progression or treatment responses in the clinic.