What is perfusion MRI?

Perfusion MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is an imaging study without radiation that evaluates the blood flow into the ball of the hip joint (femoral head). Depending on the age of the child, sedation or anesthesia may be required to get this test as the child must lie still for 30-45 minutes. Our study group believes that the perfusion MRI helps give an estimate of disease severity to help determine treatment.