Black Blood MRI in Suspected Large Artery Primary Angiitis of the Central Nervous System

作者：Pfefferkorn Thomas^*; Linn Jennifer; Habs Maximilian; Opherk Christina; Cyran Clemens; Ottomeyer Caroline; Straube Andreas; Dichgans Martin; Nikolaou Konstantin; Saam Tobias

来源：Journal of Neuroimaging, 2013, 23(3): 379-383.

DOI：10.1111/j.1552-6569.2012.00743.x

• Infarction
• vasculitis
• MRI
• inflammation

OBJECTIVESSingle case reports suggest that black blood MRI (T1-weighted fat and blood suppressed sequences with and without contrast injection; BB-MRI) may visualize intracranial vessel wall contrast enhancement (CE) in primary angiitis of the central nervous system (PACNS). In this single-center observational pilot study we prospectively investigated the value of BB-MRI in the diagnosis of large artery PACNS.
METHODSPatients with suspected large artery PACNS received a standardized diagnostic program including BB-MRI. Vessel wall CE was graded (grade 0-2) by two experienced readers blinded to clinical data and correlated to the final diagnosis.
RESULTSFour of 12 included patients received a final diagnosis of PACNS. All of them showed moderate (grade 1) to strong (grade 2) vessel wall CE at the sites of stenosis. A moderate (grade 1) vessel wall CE grade was also observed in 6 of the remaining 8 patients in whom alternative diagnoses were made: arteriosclerotic disease (n= 4), intracranial dissection (n= 1), and Moyamoya disease (n= 1).
CONCLUSIONSOur pilot study demonstrates that vessel wall CE is a frequent finding in PACNS and its mimics. Larger trials will be necessary to evaluate the utility of BB-MRI in the diagnostic workup of PACNS.

• 出版日期2013-7