Top

European Radiology

Published in:

01-03-2019 | Magnetic Resonance

Visualization of the lenticulostriate arteries at 3T using black-blood T1-weighted intracranial vessel wall imaging: comparison with 7T TOF-MRA

Authors: Zihao Zhang, Zhaoyang Fan, Qingle Kong, Jiayu Xiao, Fang Wu, Jing An, Qi Yang, Debiao Li, Yan Zhuo

Published in: European Radiology | Issue 3/2019

Abstract

Objectives

The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of using intracranial T1-weighted vessel wall imaging (VWI) to visualize the lenticulostriate arteries (LSAs) at 3T.

Material and methods

Thirteen healthy volunteers were examined with VWI at 3T and TOF-MRA at 7T during the same day. On the vascular skeletons obtained by manual tracing, the number of stems and branches of LSAs were counted. On the most prominent branch in every hemisphere, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), the full length and the local length (5-15 mm above MCAs) were measured and compared between the two methods. Nine stroke patients with intracranial artery stenosis were also recruited into the study. The branches of LSAs were compared between the symptomatic and asymptomatic side.

Results

The extracted vascular trees were in good agreement between 7T TOF-MRA and 3T VWI. The two acquisitions showed similar numbers of the LSA stems. The number of branches revealed by 3T VWI was slightly lower than 7T TOF. The full lengths were slightly lower by VWI at 3T (p = 0.011, ICC = 0.917). The measured local lengths (5-15 mm from MCAs) showed high coherence between VWI and TOF-MRA (p = 0.098, ICC = 0.970). In stroke patients, 12 plaques were identified on MCA segments, and nine plaques were located on the symptomatic side. The average numbers of LSA visualized by 3T VWI were 4.3±1.3 on the symptomatic side and 5.0±1.1 on the asymptomatic side.

Conclusion

3T VWI is capable of depicting LSAs, particularly the stems and the proximal segments, with comparable image quality to that of 7T TOF-MRA.

Key Points

• T1-weighted intracranial VWI at 3T allows for black-blood MR angiography of lenticulostriate artery.

• 3T intracranial VWI depicts the stems and proximal segments of the lenticulostriate arteries comparable to 7T TOF-MRA.

• It is feasible to assess both large vessel wall lesions and lenticulostriate vasculopathy in one scan.

Available only for authorised users

Marinković S, Gibo H, Milisavljević M, Ćetković M (2001) Anatomic and clinical correlations of the lenticulostriate arteries. Clin Anat 14:190–195. https://doi.org/10.1002/ca.1032 CrossRefPubMed

Greenberg SM (2006) Small vessels, big problems. N Engl J Med 354:1451–1453. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp068043 CrossRefPubMed

Feekes JA, Hsu SW, Chaloupka JC, Cassell MD (2005) Tertiary microvascular territories define lacunar infarcts in the basal ganglia. Ann Neurol 58:18–30. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.20505 CrossRef

Román GC, Erkinjuntti T, Wallin A, Pantoni L, Chui HC (2002) Subcortical ischaemic vascular dementia subcortical ischaemic vascular dementia. Lancet Neurol 1:426–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(02)00190-4

Tanriover N, Kawashima M, Rhoton AL Jr, Ulm AJ, Mericle RA (2003) Microsurgical anatomy of the early branches of the middle cerebral artery: morphometric analysis and classification with angiographic correlation. J Neurosurg 98:1277–1290. https://doi.org/10.3171/jns.2003.98.6.1277

Cho ZH, Kang CK, Han JY et al (2008) Observation of the lenticulostriate arteries in the human brain in vivo using 7.0T MR angiography. Stroke 39:1604–1606. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.107.508002 CrossRefPubMed

Kang CK, Park CW, Han JY et al (2009) Imaging and analysis of lenticulostriate arteries using 7.0-Tesla magnetic resonance angiography. Magn Reson Med 61:136–144. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrm.21786

Hendrikse J, Zwanenburg JJ, Visser F, Takahara T, Luijten P (2008) Noninvasive depiction of the lenticulostriate arteries with time-of-flight MR angiography at 7.0 T. Cerebrovasc Dis 26:624–629. https://doi.org/10.1159/000166838

von Morze C, Xu D, Purcell DD et al (2007) Intracranial time-of-flight MR angiography at 7T with comparison to 3T. J Magn Reson Imaging 26:900–904. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.21097 CrossRef

10.

Kang CK, Park CA, Park CW, Lee YB, Cho ZH, Kim YB (2010) Lenticulostriate arteries in chronic stroke patients visualised by 7 T magnetic resonance angiography. Int J Stroke 5:374–380. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-4949.2010.00464.x

11.

Kang CK, Park CA, Lee H et al (2009) Hypertension correlates with lenticulostriate arteries visualized by 7T magnetic resonance angiography. Hypertension 54:1050–1056. https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.109.140350

12.

Seo SW, Kang CK, Kim SH et al (2012) Measurements of lenticulostriate arteries using 7T MRI: new imaging markers for subcortical vascular dementia. J Neurol Sci 322:200–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2012.05.032 CrossRef

13.

Chen YC, Li MH, Li YH, Qiao RH (2011) Analysis of correlation between the number of lenticulostriate arteries and hypertension based on high-resolution MR angiography findings. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 32:1899–1903. https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A2667 CrossRefPubMed

14.

Chen YC, Li YH, Lu J, Li WB, Wang JB (2016) Correlation between the reduction in lenticulostriate arteries caused by hypertension and changes in brain metabolism detected with MRI. AJR Am J Roentgenol 206:395–400. https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.15.14514

15.

Gotoh K, Okada T, Miki Y et al (2009) Visualization of the lenticulostriate artery with flow-sensitive black-blood acquisition in comparison with time-of-flight MR angiography. J Magn Reson Imaging 29:65–69. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.21626 CrossRefPubMed

16.

Okuchi S, Okada T, Fujimoto K et al (2014) Visualization of Lenticulostriate Arteries at 3T: Optimization of Slice-selective off-resonance Sinc Pulse-prepared TOF-MRA and its comparison with flow-sensitive black-blood MRA. Acad Radiol 21:812–816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acra.2014.03.007 CrossRefPubMed

17.

Mandell DM, Mossa-Basha M, Qiao Y et al (2017) Intracranial vessel wall MRI: principles and expert consensus recommendations of the American Society of Neuroradiology. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 38:218–229. https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A4893 CrossRef

18.

Wardlaw JM, Smith C, Dichgans M (2013) Mechanisms of sporadic cerebral small vessel disease: insights from neuroimaging. Lancet Neurol 12:483–497. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(13)70060-7 CrossRef

19.

Fan Z, Yang Q, Deng Z et al (2017) Whole-brain intracranial vessel wall imaging at 3 Tesla using cerebrospinal fluid–attenuated T1-weighted 3D turbo spin echo. Magn Reson Med 77:1142–1150. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrm.26201 CrossRefPubMed

20.

Yang Q, Deng Z, Bi X et al (2017) Whole-brain vessel wall MRI: a parameter tune-up solution to improve the scan efficiency of three-dimensional variable flip-angle turbo spin-echo. J Magn Reson Imaging 46:751–757. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmri.25611 CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

21.

Liao W, Rohr K, Kang C-K, Cho Z-H, Wörz S(2016) Automatic 3D segmentation and quantification of lenticulostriate arteries from high-resolution 7 tesla MRA images. IEEE Trans Image Process 25:400–413. https://doi.org/10.1109/TIP.2015.2499085

22.

Updegrove A, Wilson NM, Merkow J, Lan H, Marsden AL, Shadden SC (2017) SimVascular: an open source pipeline for cardiovascular simulation. Ann Biomed Eng 45:525–541. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-016-1762-8

23.

Sengupta D, Kahn AM, Burns JC, Sankaran S, Shadden SC, Marsden AL (2012) Image-based modeling of hemodynamics in coronary artery aneurysms caused by Kawasaki disease. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 11:915–932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-011-0361-8

24.

Mukherjee D, Padilla J, Shadden SC (2016) Numerical investigation of fluid–particle interactions for embolic stroke. Theor Comput Fluid Dyn 30:23–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00162-015-0359-4 CrossRef

25.

Mukherjee D, Jani ND, Selvaganesan K, Weng CL, Shadden SC (2016) Computational assessment of the relation between embolism source and embolus distribution to the circle of Willis for improved understanding of stroke etiology. J Biomech Eng 138:081008. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4033986

26.

Yamamoto Y, Ohara T, Hamanaka M, Hosomi A, Tamura A, Akiguchi I (2011) Characteristics of intracranial branch atheromatous disease and its association with progressive motor deficits. J Neurol Sci 304:78–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jns.2011.02.006

27.

Yoon Y, Lee DH, Kang DW, Kwon SU, Kim JS (2013) Single subcortical infarction and atherosclerotic plaques in the middle cerebral artery. Stroke 44:2462–2467. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.113.001467

Title: Visualization of the lenticulostriate arteries at 3T using black-blood T1-weighted intracranial vessel wall imaging: comparison with 7T TOF-MRA
Authors: Zihao Zhang
Zhaoyang Fan
Qingle Kong
Jiayu Xiao
Fang Wu
Jing An
Qi Yang
Debiao Li
Yan Zhuo
Publication date: 01-03-2019
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: European Radiology / Issue 3/2019
Print ISSN: 0938-7994
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1084
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-018-5701-y

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Visualization of the lenticulostriate arteries at 3T using black-blood T1-weighted intracranial vessel wall imaging: comparison with 7T TOF-MRA

Abstract

Objectives

Material and methods

Results

Conclusion

Key Points

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Objectives

Material and methods

Results

Conclusion

Key Points

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 3/2019

Quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging shows widespread blood-brain barrier disruption in mild traumatic brain injury patients with post-concussion syndrome

Quantitative assessment of mesorectal fat: new prognostic biomarker in patients with mid-to-lower rectal cancer

Amid proton transfer (APT) and magnetization transfer (MT) MRI contrasts provide complimentary assessment of brain tumors similarly to proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging (MRSI)

Value of adding dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI visual assessment to conventional MRI and clinical assessment in the diagnosis of complete tumour response to chemoradiotherapy for rectal cancer

Feasibility of mapping breast cancer with supine breast MRI in patients scheduled for oncoplastic surgery

Accessory cavitated uterine mass: MRI features and surgical correlations of a rare but under-recognised entity