Magnetic resonance arterial spin labeling (ASL) at 3 Tesla has been investigated as a quantitative technique for measuring regional cerebral perfusion (RCP) in newborn infants. RCP values were measured in 49 healthy neonates: 32 preterm infants born before 34 wk of gestation and 17 term-born neonates. Examinations were performed on unsedated infants at postmenstrual age of 39 -40 wk in both groups. Due to motion, reliable data were obtained from 23 preterm and 6 term infants. Perfusion in the basal ganglia (39 and 30 mL/100 g/min for preterm and term neonates, respectively) was significantly higher (p Ͻ 0.0001) than in cortical gray matter (19 and 16 mL/100 g/min) and white matter (15 and 10 mL/100 g/min), both in preterm neonates at term-equivalent age and in term neonates. Perfusion was significantly higher (p ϭ 0.01) in the preterm group than in the term infants, indicating that RCP may be influenced by developmental and postnatal ages. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that noninvasive ASL at 3T may be used to measure RCP in healthy unsedated preterm and term neonates. ASL is, therefore, a viable tool that will allow serial studies of RCP in high-risk neonates. H igh-risk neonates, either infants born prematurely or asphyxiated infants born at term, have a vulnerable cerebral circulation (1). Impaired autoregulation of the CBF and thus cerebral perfusion contributes to some extent to the development of brain damage in those infants (2-4). Other mechanisms, as inflammation-mediated perfusion disturbances might also be implicated in brain damage development (5), however, this point has not yet been demonstrated.Studies of the cerebral circulation have previously been performed using different invasive methods as xenon clearance (1,6), positron emission tomography (PET) (7,8), and SPECT (9). Noninvasive approaches for estimating global CBF, e.g. Doppler ultrasonography and NIRS (10) have been used achieving only a limited use (11). NIRS as a cot-side method for measuring CBF was described in the late 1980s (12) but has not yet become a routine application, probably because methodological limitations are a problem in quantitative NIRS perfusion measurements. However, quantitative measurements of CBF in neonates have recently been performed with sonographic flowmetry of carotid and vertebral arteries (13)(14)(15)(16). From these studies, it is known that global CBF increases with PMA; however, quantitative regional brain perfusion data and the influence of postnatal age beyond the first 2 wk of life (16) are not yet available on healthy neonates.In recent years, a noninvasive magnetic resonance (MR) method for accurately measuring regional brain perfusion has been developed (17). MR-Atrial spin labeling (ASL) is a completely noninvasive MR technique that enables accurate maps of RCP to be acquired in a few minutes. As this MR method is noninvasive and safe, even in very young infants, the measurements may be repeated, e.g. for monitoring changes in perfusion or response to treatment.The basic...