BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Individual assessment of the absolute risk of intracranial aneurysm rupture remains challenging. Emerging imaging techniques such as dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging and postcontrast vessel wall MR imaging may improve risk estimation by providing new information on aneurysm wall properties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between aneurysm wall permeability on dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging and aneurysm wall enhancement on postcontrast vessel wall MR imaging in unruptured intracranial aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS:Patients with unruptured saccular intracranial aneurysms were imaged with vessel wall MR imaging before and after gadolinium contrast administration. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging was performed coincident with contrast injection using 3D T1-weighted spoiled gradient-echo imaging. The transfer constant (K trans ) was measured adjacent to intracranial aneurysm and adjacent to the normal intracranial artery. RESULTS:Twenty-nine subjects were analyzed (mean age, 53.9 Ϯ 13.5 years; 24% men; PHASES score: median, 8; interquartile range, 4.75-10). K trans was higher in intracranial aneurysms compared with the normal intracranial artery (median, 0.0110; interquartile range, 0.0060 -0.0390 versus median, 0.0032; interquartile range, 0.0018 -0.0048 min Ϫ1 ; P Ͻ .001), which correlated with intracranial aneurysm size (Spearman ϭ 0.54, P ϭ .002) and PHASES score ( ϭ 0.40, P ϭ .30). Aneurysm wall enhancement, detected in 19 (66%) aneurysms, was associated with intracranial aneurysm size and the PHASES score but not significantly with K trans (P ϭ .30). Aneurysms of 2 of the 9 patients undergoing conservative treatment ruptured during 1-year follow-up. Both ruptured aneurysms had increased K trans , whereas only 1 had aneurysm wall enhancement at baseline. CONCLUSIONS:Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging showed increased K trans adjacent to intracranial aneurysms, which was independent of aneurysm wall enhancement on postcontrast vessel wall MR imaging. Increased aneurysm wall permeability on dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging provides new information that may be useful in intracranial aneurysm risk assessment. ABBREVIATIONS: AWEϭ aneurysm wall enhancement; DCE ϭ dynamic contrast-enhanced; IA ϭ intracranial aneurysm; IQR ϭ interquartile range; K trans ϭ transfer constant; PHASES ϭ Population, Hypertension, Age, Size, Earlier Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, and Site; WEI ϭ wall enhancement index Indicates open access to non-subscribers at www.ajnr.org http://dx.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.