Magnetic resonance imaging of flow dynamics in the circle of Willis.

Magnetic resonance angiography was applied to the study of blood flow dynamics in the circle of Willis in nine patients with cerebrovascular disease and two normal volunteers. In conjunction with two-dimensional or three-dimensional gradient-echo acquisitions, selective presaturation of individual vessels was used to determine the direction of blood flow and the origin of the vascular supply. Presaturation causes signal loss within the territory supplied by the presaturated artery, without affecting vessels not crossing the presaturation slab. The results were correlated with those from transcranial Doppler sonography and conventional angiography. Magnetic resonance angiography was able to demonstrate the direction of blood flow, the presence or absence of collateral blood flow, and the blood supply to the pericallosal arteries, as well as the presence of a fetal posterior circulation. Magnetic resonance angiography is a noninvasive means for imaging the blood supply of the major intracranial arteries.