Clinical value of black-blood high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging for intracranial atherosclerotic plaques

Yang,Haiqing; Zhu,Yifei; Geng,Zuojun; Li,Caiying; Zhou,Lixia; Liu,Qi

doi:10.3892/etm.2015.2469

Clinical value of black-blood high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging for intracranial atherosclerotic plaques

Authors:
- Haiqing Yang
- Yifei Zhu
- Zuojun Geng
- Caiying Li
- Lixia Zhou
- Qi Liu
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Affiliations: Department of Radiology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050000, P.R. China, Department of Neurology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei 050000, P.R. China
Published online on: April 30, 2015 https://doi.org/10.3892/etm.2015.2469
Pages: 231-236

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Abstract

The present study evaluated the value of black-blood high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) for the visualization of intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS) plaques. A total of 110 patients with cerebral artery or vertebrobasilar stenosis, vessel occlusion or a significantly weakened signal in black‑blood magnetic resonance angiography (MRA; three‑dimensional time‑of‑flight) were examined. Black‑blood MRA was used to observe whether plaques were present in the abnormal vascular walls. Among the 110 patients with cerebral infarction, 16 cases presented with no significant abnormality of the lumen and walls, while plaques were observed in 94 cases. The plaques were categorized according to their signal characteristics, which resulted in the identification of four cases of type I and II plaques, 15 cases of type III, 26 cases of type IV and V, 23 cases of type VI, 11 cases of type VII, 14 cases of type VIII and one case of a mixed plaque. In summary, 3.0 T black‑blood HRMRI was demonstrated to objectively exhibit characteristics of various types of ICAS plaques. Therefore, this imaging technique may be applied as a key method for the clinical non‑invasive determination of ICAS plaques.

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