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High resolution 7T MR imaging in characterizing culprit intracranial atherosclerotic plaques
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

High resolution 7T MR imaging in characterizing culprit intracranial atherosclerotic plaques

Rami Fakih, Alberto Varon Miller, Ashrita Raghuram, Sebastian Sanchez, Jacob M Miller, Sedat Kandemirli, Chengcheng Zhu, Amir Shaban, Enrique C Leira and Edgar A Samaniego
Interventional neuroradiology : journal of peritherapeutic neuroradiology, surgical procedures and related neurosciences, Vol.31(1), pp.24-31
02/2025
DOI: 10.1177/15910199221145760
PMID: 36573263
url
https://doi.org/10.1177/15910199221145760View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Current imaging modalities underestimate the severity of intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD). High resolution vessel wall imaging (HR-VWI) MRI is a powerful tool in characterizing plaques. We aim to show that HR-VWI MRI is more accurate at detecting and characterizing intracranial plaques compared to digital subtraction angiography (DSA), time-of-flight (TOF) MRA, and computed tomography angiogram (CTA). Patients with symptomatic ICAD prospectively underwent 7T HR-VWI. We calculated: degree of stenosis, plaque burden (PB), and remodeling index (RI). The sensitivity of detecting a culprit plaque for each modality as well as the correlations between different variables were analyzed. Interobserver agreement on the determination of a culprit plaque on every imaging modality was evaluated. A total of 44 patients underwent HR-VWI. Thirty-four patients had CTA, 18 TOF-MRA, and 18 DSA. The sensitivity of plaque detection was 88% for DSA, 78% for TOF-MRA, and 76% for CTA. There's significant positive correlation between PB and degree of stenosis on HR-VWI MRI (p < 0.001), but not between PB and degree of stenosis in DSA (p = 0.168), TOF-MRA (p = 0.144), and CTA (p = 0.253). RI had a significant negative correlation with degree of stenosis on HR-VWI MRI (p = 0.003), but not on DSA (p = 0.783), TOF-MRA (p = 0.405), or CTA (p = 0.751). The best inter-rater agreement for culprit plaque detection was with HR-VWI (p = 0.001). The degree of stenosis measured by intra-luminal techniques does not fully reflect the true extent of ICAD. HR-VWI is a more accurate tool in characterizing atherosclerotic plaques and may be the default imaging modality in clinical practice.
intracranial atherosclerosis culprit plaques 7T high-resolution vessel wall imaging plaque burden

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