Neurometabolic Changes Post Stroke are Associated with Cerebral Artery Distributions: A Combined 3D 1H-MRSI and MRA Study

Motivation: Elucidating the time-dependent pathological evolution of infarction is essential for the effective management of stroke. Goal(s): Our goal was to investigate the influence of vascular characteristics on neurometabolites changes within lesions at different times post stroke. Approach: 3D 1H-MRSI scanning using SPICE technology (scan time: 8 minutes, resolution: 2 × 3 × 3 mm3, FOV: 240 × 240 × 72 mm3) was performed on 74 acute stroke patients. The neurometabolites maps were compared with a statistical atlas of cerebral artery. Results: We showed the vessel distributions were related to the neurometabolites changes following ischemic stroke, collectively improving the prediction of stroke symptom onset. Impact: Using fast high-resolution 1H-MRSI together with cerebral artery atlas, our study showed that the interdependence between vessel distribution and neurometabolites changes in ischemic stroke. The finding may help find useful biomarkers for modeling stroke lesion evolution and symptom onset prediction.