High-resolution contrast-enhanced vessel wall imaging in patients with suspected cerebral vasculitis: Prospective comparison of whole-brain 3D T1 SPACE versus 2D T1 black blood MRI at 3 Tesla

Purpose. Conventional two-dimensional vessel wall imaging has been used to depict the middle cerebral artery (MCA) wall in patients with recent small subcortical infarctions (RSSIs). However, its clinical use has been limited by restricted spatial coverage, low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and long scan time. We used a novel three-dimensional high-resolution MR imaging (3D HR-MRI) technique to investigate the presence, locations, and contrast-enhanced patterns of MCA plaques and their relationship with RSSI.Methods. Nineteen consecutive patients with RSSI but no luminal stenosis on MR angiography were prospectively enrolled. 3D HR-MRI was performed using a T1w-SPACE sequence at 3.0 T. The presence, locations, and contrast-enhanced patterns of the MCA plaques on the ipsilateral and contralateral sides to the RSSI were analyzed.Results. Eighteen patients successfully completed the study. MCA atherosclerotic plaques occurred more frequently on the ipsilateral than the contralateral side to the RSSI (72.2% versus 33.3%,P=0.044). The occurrence of superiorly located plaques was significantly higher on the ipsilateral than the contralateral side of the MCA (66.7% versus 27.8%;P=0.044).Conclusions. Superiorly located plaques are closely associated with RSSI. 3D high-resolution vessel wall imaging may be a potential tool for etiologic assessment of ischemic stroke.

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Intracranial arterial wall imaging using high-resolution 3-tesla contrast-enhanced MRI

Neurology ◽

10.1212/01.wnl.0000342470.69739.b3 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 72 (7) ◽

pp. 627-634 ◽

Cited By ~ 256

Author(s):

R. H. Swartz ◽

S. S. Bhuta ◽

R. I. Farb ◽

R. Agid ◽

R. A. Willinsky ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Arterial Wall ◽

3 Tesla ◽

Enhanced Mri ◽

Contrast Enhanced ◽

Contrast Enhanced Mri ◽

Wall Imaging

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High-Resolution Black Blood Vessel Wall Imaging in COVID-19 Encephalopathy—Is it Really Endotheliitis?

Clinical Neuroradiology ◽

10.1007/s00062-021-01109-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Konstanze V. Guggenberger ◽

Thorsten A. Bley ◽

Marius L. Vogt ◽

Horst Urbach ◽

Stephan Meckel

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Blood Vessel ◽

Vessel Wall ◽

Vessel Wall Imaging ◽

Black Blood ◽

Blood Vessel Wall ◽

Wall Imaging

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Cerebrovascular Complications and Vessel Wall Imaging in COVID-19 Encephalopathy—A Pilot Study

Clinical Neuroradiology ◽

10.1007/s00062-021-01008-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Marjolaine Uginet ◽

Gautier Breville ◽

Jérémy Hofmeister ◽

Paolo Machi ◽

Patrice H. Lalive ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

High Resolution ◽

Vessel Wall ◽

Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

Vessel Wall Imaging ◽

Black Blood ◽

Acute Encephalopathy ◽

Cerebrovascular Complications ◽

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽

Wall Imaging

Abstract Background and Purpose Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is associated with several complications of the central nervous system (CNS), including acute encephalopathy. Methods In this pilot study, we report a series of 39 patients (66.5 ± 9.2 years; 10.3% female) with acute encephalopathy, who underwent a standard brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 1.5 T during the acute symptomatic phase. In addition to diffusion-weighted imaging, MR angiography and susceptibility-weighted images, high-resolution vascular black blood sequences (in 34 cases) were used to investigate the vasculature of the brain. Results In 29 out of 34 patients with COVID-19 encephalopathy (85%) with high-resolution vessel wall imaging, we found a circular enhancement and thickening of the basilar and vertebral arteries, without any correlation with ischemia or microbleeds (reported in 21% and 59%, respectively). Conclusion We report a high prevalence of vascular changes suggestive of endotheliitis as reported in other organs. This could suggest an inflammatory mechanism underlying this encephalopathy.

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Associations between haemodynamics and wall enhancement of intracranial aneurysm

Stroke and Vascular Neurology ◽

10.1136/svn-2020-000636 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. svn-2020-000636

Author(s):

Miaoqi Zhang ◽

Fei Peng ◽

Xin Tong ◽

Xin Feng ◽

Yunduo Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Flow ◽

High Resolution ◽

Ordinal Regression ◽

Parent Artery ◽

Black Blood ◽

4D Flow Mri ◽

4D Flow ◽

Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms ◽

Black Blood Mri ◽

Flow Mri

Background and purposePrevious studies have reported about inflammation processes (IPs) that play important roles in aneurysm formation and rupture, which could be driven by blood flow. IPs can be identified using aneurysmal wall enhancement (AWE) on high-resolution black-blood MRI (BB-MRI) and blood flow haemodynamics can be demonstrated by four-dimensional-flow MRI (4D-flow MRI). Thus, this study investigated the associations between AWE and haemodynamics in unruptured intracranial aneurysms (IA) by combining 4D-flow MRI and high-resolution BB-MRI.Materials and methodsBetween April 2014 and October 2017, 48 patients with 49 unruptured IA who underwent both 4D-flow MRI and high-resolution BB-MRI were retrospectively included in this study. The haemodynamic parameters demonstrated using 4D-flow MRI were compared between different AWE patterns using the Kruskal-Wallis test and ordinal regression.ResultsThe results of Kruskal-Wallis test showed that the average wall shear stress in the IA (WSSavg-IA), maximum through-plane velocity in the adjacent parent artery, inflow jet patterns and the average vorticity in IA (vorticityavg-IA) were significantly associated with the AWE patterns. Ordinal regression analysis identified WSSavg-IA (p=0.002) and vorticityavg-IA (p=0.033) as independent predictors of AWE patterns.ConclusionA low WSS and low average vorticity were independently associated with a high AWE grade for IAs larger than 4 mm. Therefore, WSS and average vorticity could predict AWE and circumferential AWE.

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