Perfusion territories of the deep brain structures: territorial arterial spin labeling MRI at 3.0 Tesla fieldstrength.

Purpose: Anatomical variations of the circle of Willis are known to influence the distribution of cerebral blood flow to cortical brain regions. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of variations in the circle of Willis anatomy on the perfusion territory to the nucleus caudatus, nucleus lentiformis and the thalamus. Materials and methods: The ethics committee of our institution approved the study protocol. A total of 159 patients with first time clinical symptoms of cerebral ischemia were recruited. Perfusion territory contributions were visualized with territorial arterial spin labeling (TA…