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Fonseca AC, Merwick Á, Dennis M, Ferrari J, Ferro JM, Kelly P, Lal A, Ois A, Olivot JM, Purroy F. European Stroke Organisation (ESO) guidelines on management of transient ischaemic attack. Eur Stroke J 2021; 6:CLXIII-CLXXXVI. [PMID: 34414299 PMCID: PMC8370080 DOI: 10.1177/2396987321992905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2020] [Accepted: 01/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of the present European Stroke Organisation Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA) management guideline document is to provide clinically useful evidence-based recommendations on approaches to triage, investigation and secondary prevention, particularly in the acute phase following TIA. The guidelines were prepared following the Standard Operational Procedure for a European Stroke Organisation guideline document and according to GRADE methodology. As a basic principle, we defined TIA clinically and pragmatically for generalisability as transient neurological symptoms, likely to be due to focal cerebral or ocular ischaemia, which last less than 24 hours. High risk TIA was defined based on clinical features in patients seen early after their event or having other features suggesting a high early risk of stroke (e.g. ABCD2 score of 4 or greater, or weakness or speech disturbance for greater than five minutes, or recurrent events, or significant ipsilateral large artery disease e.g. carotid stenosis, intracranial stenosis). Overall, we strongly recommend using dual antiplatelet treatment with clopidogrel and aspirin short term, in high-risk non-cardioembolic TIA patients, with an ABCD2 score of 4 or greater, as defined in randomised controlled trials (RCTs). We further recommend specialist review within 24 hours after the onset of TIA symptoms. We suggest review in a specialist TIA clinic rather than conventional outpatients, if managed in an outpatient setting. We make a recommendation to use either MRA or CTA in TIA patients for additional confirmation of large artery stenosis of 50% or greater, in order to guide further management, such as clarifying degree of carotid stenosis detected with carotid duplex ultrasound. We make a recommendation against using prediction tools (eg ABCD2 score) alone to identify high risk patients or to make triage and treatment decisions in suspected TIA patients as due to limited sensitivity of the scores, those with score value of 3 or less may include significant numbers of individual patients at risk of recurrent stroke, who require early assessment and treatment. These recommendations aim to emphasise the importance of prompt acute assessment and relevant secondary prevention. There are no data from randomised controlled trials on prediction tool use and optimal imaging strategies in suspected TIA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Catarina Fonseca
- Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health (Neurology), Hospital Santa Maria-CHLN, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Áine Merwick
- Department of Neurology, Cork University Hospital & University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | - Martin Dennis
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Julia Ferrari
- Department of Neurology, St. John´s of God Hospital, Vienna, Austria
| | - José M Ferro
- Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health (Neurology), Hospital Santa Maria-CHLN, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Peter Kelly
- Stroke Service, Mater University Hospital and HRB Stroke Clinical Trials Network Ireland, University College Dublin, Ireland
| | - Avtar Lal
- Guidelines Methodologist, European Stroke Organisation, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Angel Ois
- Department of Neurology, Hospital del Mar, IMIM, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jean Marc Olivot
- Acute Stroke Unit, Clinical Investigation Center and Toulouse Neuro Imaging Center, Toulouse University Medical Center, Toulouse, France
| | - Francisco Purroy
- Hospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova, Institut de Recerca Biomedica de Lleida (IRBLleida), Universitat de Lleida (UdL), Lleida, Spain
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Koktzoglou I, Huang R, Ong AL, Aouad PJ, Aherne EA, Edelman RR. Feasibility of a sub-3-minute imaging strategy for ungated quiescent interval slice-selective MRA of the extracranial carotid arteries using radial k-space sampling and deep learning-based image processing. Magn Reson Med 2020; 84:825-837. [PMID: 31975432 DOI: 10.1002/mrm.28179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2019] [Revised: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To develop and test the feasibility of a sub-3-minute imaging strategy for non-contrast evaluation of the extracranial carotid arteries using ungated quiescent interval slice-selective (QISS) MRA, combining single-shot radial sampling with deep neural network-based image processing to optimize image quality. METHODS The extracranial carotid arteries of 12 human subjects were imaged at 3 T using ungated QISS MRA. In 7 healthy volunteers, the effects of radial and Cartesian k-space sampling, single-shot and multishot image acquisition (1.1-3.3 seconds/slice, 141-423 seconds/volume), and deep learning-based image processing were evaluated using segmental image quality scoring, arterial temporal SNR, arterial-to-background contrast and apparent contrast-to-noise ratio, and structural similarity index. Comparison of deep learning-based image processing was made with block matching and 3D filtering denoising. RESULTS Compared with Cartesian sampling, radial k-space sampling increased arterial temporal SNR 107% (P < .001) and improved image quality during 1-shot imaging (P < .05). The carotid arteries were depicted with similar image quality on the rapid 1-shot and much lengthier 3-shot radial QISS protocols (P = not significant), which was corroborated in patient studies. Deep learning-based image processing outperformed block matching and 3D filtering denoising in terms of structural similarity index (P < .001). Compared with original QISS source images, deep learning image processing provided 24% and 195% increases in arterial-to-background contrast (P < .001) and apparent contrast-to-noise ratio (P < .001), and provided source images that were preferred by radiologists (P < .001). CONCLUSION Rapid, sub-3-minute evaluation of the extracranial carotid arteries is feasible with ungated single-shot radial QISS, and benefits from the use of deep learning-based image processing to enhance source image quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioannis Koktzoglou
- Department of Radiology, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Illinois.,Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Rong Huang
- Department of Radiology, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Illinois
| | - Archie L Ong
- Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.,Department of Neurology, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Illinois
| | - Pascale J Aouad
- Department of Radiology, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Illinois.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Emily A Aherne
- Department of Radiology, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Illinois.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Robert R Edelman
- Department of Radiology, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Illinois.,Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
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Liu H, Sun J, Hippe DS, Wu W, Chu B, Balu N, Hatsukami T, Yuan C. Improved carotid lumen delineation on non-contrast MR angiography using SNAP (Simultaneous Non-Contrast Angiography and Intraplaque Hemorrhage) imaging. Magn Reson Imaging 2019; 62:87-93. [PMID: 31247251 DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2019.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2019] [Revised: 06/20/2019] [Accepted: 06/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Simultaneous Non-Contrast Angiography and Intraplaque Hemorrhage (SNAP) was developed for improved imaging of intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH). Its signal polarity also allows for non-contrast time-of-flight MR angiography (TOF). This study sought to compare SNAP and TOF in delineating carotid lumen using contrast-enhanced MRA (CE-MRA) as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred and eighty-nine matched slices from 15 arteries among 11 subjects (9 males and 2 females, mean age of 72.1 ± 8.6 years) with luminal stenosis on CE-MRA were studied. Cross-sectional slices centered around the carotid bifurcation were matched between the three MRA techniques (SNAP, TOF, and CE-MRA) and classified as slices with or without plaque (focal wall thickness ≥ 1.5 mm) by additional black-blood vessel wall MRI. Lumen area was measured using a Sobel gradient map for TOF and CE-MRA (magnitude images) and a polarity map for SNAP. Agreement between techniques for measuring lumen area and percent stenosis was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and paired t-test. RESULTS Among the 289 matched slices, SNAP showed a higher agreement with CE-MRA than TOF for measuring lumen area (ICC: 0.93 vs. 0.83; p = 0.03). Agreement with CE-MRA was high for both SNAP and TOF in slices without plaque (ICC: 0.91 vs. 0.89; p > 0.05) but favored SNAP over TOF in slices with plaque (ICC: 0.93 vs. 0.80; p = 0.02). CONCLUSION SNAP, assisted by signal polarity information, demonstrated a higher agreement with CE-MRA in delineating carotid lumen compared to TOF, particularly in slices with plaque where flow conditions may be more complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haining Liu
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, United States.
| | - Jie Sun
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, United States
| | - Daniel S Hippe
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, United States
| | - Wei Wu
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, United States; Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College Affiliated to Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Department of Radiology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan 430000, China
| | - Baocheng Chu
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, United States
| | - Niranjan Balu
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, United States
| | - Thomas Hatsukami
- Department of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, United States
| | - Chun Yuan
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, United States; Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, United States; Department of Bioengineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
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Abstract
Stroke consists of the loss of cerebral functions resulting from the interruption of blood supply to a region of the brain, and represents the second cause of death and the leading cause of major disability in adults in Europe. Stroke is a very active field of research at preclinical and clinical levels, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is one of the most powerful tools that scientist and clinicians have for the study of the onset, evolution and consequences of this devastating disease, as well as for the monitoring of the success of available treatments, or for the development of novel therapeutic strategies.MRI can tackle the study of stroke from different points of view, and at scales ranging from subcellular to systems biology level. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) allows the noninvasive measurement of the levels of principal metabolites in the brain, and how they change during the course of the disease, or in response to therapy. Glutamate, in particular, is very important in the field of stroke. Several anatomical MR techniques allow the characterization of the lesion volumes, the formation of cytotoxic and vasogenic edema, changes in cerebral blood flow and volume, structural changes in gray and white matter, the obtaining of the vascular architecture and status, etc. At functional level, diverse modalities of functional MRI (fMRI) allow the assessment of the alteration in the function and organization of neuronal networks of the subject under study, as a consequence of the disease or in response to treatment. Finally, emerging imaging modalities that include temperature and pH mapping of the brain, imaging by chemical exchange saturation transfer effect (CEST), all of them closely related to tissue status, or the use of contrast agents for the targeting of tissue in theranostic approaches or for cell tracking studies in cell-based therapies, etc., are only a few examples of the power and versatility of MRI as a definitive tool for the study of stroke.In this work we will set our focus on preclinical imaging of stroke models, emphasizing the most commonly used imaging modalities in a stroke-dedicated research laboratory. However, advanced techniques will be briefly discussed, providing references to specialized literature for more advanced readers. Thus, the aim of this chapter consist in the description of a simple imaging protocol for the study of the most important and common aspects of stroke in a research laboratory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Ramos-Cabrer
- Molecular Imaging Unit, CIC biomaGUNE, Paseo de Miramón 182, 20009, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, María Díaz de Haro 3, 48013, Bilbao, Spain.
| | - Daniel Padro
- Molecular Imaging Unit, CIC biomaGUNE, Paseo de Miramón 182, 20009, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
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Zhao H, Wang J, Liu X, Zhao X, Hippe DS, Cao Y, Wan J, Yuan C, Xu J. Assessment of carotid artery atherosclerotic disease by using three-dimensional fast black-blood MR imaging: comparison with DSA. Radiology 2014; 274:508-16. [PMID: 25286322 DOI: 10.1148/radiol.14132687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To assess fast three-dimensional (3D) black-blood (BB) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging as a noninvasive alternative to intraarterial digital subtraction angiography (DSA) at quantifying moderate to severe carotid artery atherosclerotic disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS Local ethics committee approval and written informed patient consent were obtained for this study. Sixty-five carotid arteries from 52 patients with at least 50% stenosis underwent 3D BB MR imaging and DSA. Quantitative measurements, including stenosis, lesion length, and the presence or absence of plaque ulceration, obtained with the two modalities were independently determined. Sensitivity and specificity, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), Cohen κ, and Bland-Altman analysis were used to assess the agreement. RESULTS Excellent agreement in measuring luminal stenosis was found between 3D BB MR imaging and DSA (ICC, 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.93, 0.97). Three-dimensional BB MR imaging was also found to have high sensitivity (91.7%), specificity (96.2%), and agreement (Cohen κ, 0.85; 95% CI: 0.66, 0.99) with DSA for detection of ulcers. Good agreement was found between lesion length measured by using 3D BB MR imaging and DSA (ICC, 0.75; 95% CI: 0.51, 0.84). However, lesion length measurements by using 3D BB MR imaging were, on average, 4.0 mm longer than those measured by using DSA (P < .001). CONCLUSION Three-dimensional BB MR imaging is a noninvasive and accurate way to quantify moderate to severe carotid artery atherosclerotic disease. With fast acquisition and large coverage, 3D BB MR imaging has the potential to become an alternative imaging approach in evaluating the severity of atherosclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huilin Zhao
- From the Departments of Radiology (H.Z., X.L., Y.C., J.X.) and Neurosurgery (J. Wan), Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1630 Dongfang Road, Shanghai 200127, China; Philips Research North America, Briarliff Manor, NY (J. Wang); Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash (J. Wang, D.S.H., C.Y.); and Biomedical Engineering & Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (X.Z.)
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Netuka D, Ostrý S, Belsán T, Rucka D, Mandys V, Charvát F, Bradác O, Benes V. Magnetic resonance angiography, digital subtraction angiography and Doppler ultrasonography in detection of carotid artery stenosis: a comparison with findings from histological specimens. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2010; 152:1215-21. [PMID: 20411283 DOI: 10.1007/s00701-010-0645-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2009] [Accepted: 03/17/2010] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Patients' life expectancy, clinical symptomatology and the extent of carotid stenosis are the most important factors when deciding whether to perform carotid endarterectomy (CEA) in patients with carotid stenosis. Therefore, the accuracy of measuring carotid stenosis is of utmost importance. METHODS Patients with internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis were investigated by digital subtraction angiography (DSA), Doppler ultrasonography (DUS) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Atherosclerotic plaque specimens were transversally cut into smaller segments and histologically processed. The slides were scanned and specimens showing maximal stenosis were determined; the minimal diameter and the diameter of the whole plaque were measured. DSA, DUS and MRA measurements were obtained in 103 patients. A comparison between preoperative and histological findings was performed. In addition, correlation coefficients were computed and tested. RESULTS Results show a significant correlation for each of the diagnostic procedures. Mean differences in the whole cohort between preoperative measurements and the histological measurements are as follows: angiographic measurement of carotid stenosis underestimated histological measurement by 14.5% and MRA by 0.7%, but DUS overestimated by 6.6%. The results in severe stenosis (> or =70%) are as follows: angiographic measurement underestimated the histological measurements by 2.3%, but MRA overestimated by 12.1% and DUS by 11.3%. The results in moderate stenosis (50-69%): angiographic measurement underestimated the histological measurements by 12.3%, but MRA overestimated by 0.2% and DUS by 7.2%. The results in mild stenosis (30-49%): angiographic measurement underestimated the histological measurements by 24.7% and MRA by 7.6%, but DUS overestimated by 3.3%. CONCLUSIONS Our study confirms that DSA underestimates moderate and mild ICA stenosis. DUS slightly overestimated moderate ICA stenosis and highly overestimated high-grade ICA stenosis. MRA proved to be accurate in detecting moderate ICA stenosis, but slightly underestimated mild stenosis and overestimated high-grade stenosis. The surgeon should be aware of these discrepancies when deciding whether to perform CEA in patients with ICA stenosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Netuka
- Department of Neurosurgery, First Faculty of Medicine, Central Military Hospital, U Vojenské Nemocnice 1200, 169 02, Prague 6, Czech Republic
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Khan O, Filippi M, Freedman MS, Barkhof F, Dore-Duffy P, Lassmann H, Trapp B, Bar-Or A, Zak I, Siegel MJ, Lisak R. Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency and multiple sclerosis. Ann Neurol 2010; 67:286-90. [PMID: 20373339 DOI: 10.1002/ana.22001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Omar Khan
- Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 4201 St Antoine, Detroit, MI 48323, USA.
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Yu W, Underhill HR, Ferguson MS, Hippe DS, Hatsukami TS, Yuan C, Chu B. The added value of longitudinal black-blood cardiovascular magnetic resonance angiography in the cross sectional identification of carotid atherosclerotic ulceration. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 2009; 11:31. [PMID: 19689816 PMCID: PMC2737539 DOI: 10.1186/1532-429x-11-31] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2009] [Accepted: 08/18/2009] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Carotid atherosclerotic ulceration is a significant source of stroke. This study evaluates the efficacy of adding longitudinal black-blood (BB) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) angiography to cross-sectional CMR images in the identification of carotid atherosclerotic ulceration. METHODS Thirty-two subjects (30 males and two females with ages between 48 and 83 years) scheduled for carotid endarterectomy were imaged on a 1.5T GE Signa scanner using multisequence [3D time-of-flight, T1, proton density, T2, contrast enhanced T1], cross-sectional CMR images and longitudinal BB CMR angiography (0.625 x 0.625 mm/pixel). Two rounds of review (round 1: cross-sectional CMR images alone and round 2: cross-sectional CMR images plus longitudinal BB CMR angiography) were conducted for the presence and volume measurements of ulceration. Ulceration was defined as a distinct depression into the plaque containing blood flow signal on cross-sectional CMR and longitudinal BB CMR angiography. RESULTS Of the 32 plaques examined by histology, 17 contained 21 ulcers. Using the longitudinal BB CMR angiography sequence in addition to the cross-sectional CMR images in round 2, the sensitivity improved to 80% for ulcers of at least 6 mm3 in volume by histology and 52.4% for all ulcers, compared to 30% and 23.8% in round 1, respectively. There was a slight decline in specificity from 88.2% to 82.3%, though both the positive and negative predictive values increased modestly from 71.4% to 78.6% and from 48.4% to 58.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION The addition of longitudinal BB CMR angiography to multisequence cross-sectional CMR images increases accuracy in the identification of carotid atherosclerotic ulceration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Yu
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, PR China
| | | | | | - Daniel S Hippe
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Thomas S Hatsukami
- Department of Surgery, Vascular Surgery Division, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Chun Yuan
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Baocheng Chu
- Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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Babiarz LS, Romero JM, Murphy EK, Brobeck B, Schaefer PW, González RG, Lev MH. Contrast-enhanced MR angiography is not more accurate than unenhanced 2D time-of-flight MR angiography for determining > or = 70% internal carotid artery stenosis. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 2009; 30:761-8. [PMID: 19164440 DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.a1464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Internal carotid artery (ICA) atheromatous disease is an important cause of ischemic stroke, and endarterectomy or stent placement is typically indicated for symptomatic patients with > or = 70% stenosis. Our purpose was to compare contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) with unenhanced 2D time-of-flight MR angiography (2D TOF MRA) in detecting hemodynamically significant ICA stenosis, by using CT angiography (CTA) as the reference standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was an institutional review board-approved retrospective study. We identified 177 consecutive patients (354 ICAs) who received correlative CE-MRA, 2D TOF MRA, and CTA. Two neuroradiologists blinded to the CTA data graded the degree of ICA stenosis according to a 5-point scale. Additionally, luminal signal-intensity characteristics including 1) signal intensity drop-out, 2) distal-vessel narrowing, and 3) distal-vessel signal-intensity reduction were recorded. MRA results were correlated with those of CTA, and receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed. RESULTS On CTA, there were 55 ICAs with and 299 without > or = 70% stenosis. CE-MRA was 84% sensitive and 96% specific for detecting > or = 70% stenosis; 2D TOF MRA was 80% sensitive and 95% specific. The area under the ROC curve was 0.97 for CE-MRA and 0.95 for 2D TOF MRA (P = .51, not significant). For both MRA studies, each of the luminal signal-intensity characteristics had high specificity (> 98%) but poor-to-mild sensitivity (35%-66%) in detecting > or = 70% stenosis. CONCLUSIONS Although it is established that CE-MRA more accurately delineates neurovascular anatomy than does unenhanced 2D TOF MRA, the administration of gadolinium did not offer a significant advantage in distinguishing surgically treatable ICA stenosis. This conclusion may be important in patients with contraindications to gadolinium.
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Affiliation(s)
- L S Babiarz
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass. 02114, USA
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