Zhu Chengcheng, Haraldsson Henrik, Tian Bing, Meisel Karl, Ko Nerissa, Lawton Michael, Grinstead John, Ahn Sinyeob, Laub Gerhard, Hess Christopher, Saloner David
Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94121, USA.
Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
MAGMA. 2016 Jun;29(3):559-70. doi: 10.1007/s10334-016-0531-x. Epub 2016 Mar 5.
High resolution MRI of the intracranial vessel wall provides important insights in the assessment of intracranial vascular disease. This study aims to refine high resolution 3D MRI techniques for intracranial vessel wall imaging at both 3 and 7 T using customized flip angle train design, and to explore their comparative abilities.
11 patients with intracranial artery disease (four atherosclerotic plaques, six aneurysms and one reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome) were imaged at 3 and 7 T with a 3D T 1-weighted fast-spin-echo sequence (SPACE) both pre and post Gd contrast injection. Wall to lumen contrast ratio (CRwall-lumen), contrast enhancement ratio (ER) and the sharpness of the vessel wall were quantified. Two experienced radiologists evaluated the image quality on a 0-5 scale.
Both 3 and 7 T achieved good image quality with high resolution (nominal 0.5 mm isotropic) and whole brain coverage. The CRwall-lumen and the ER measurements were comparable (p > 0.05). The 7 T images were significantly sharper (sharpness: 2.69 ± 0.50 vs. 1.88 ± 0.53 mm(-1), p < 0.001) with higher image quality (reader 1 score: 3.5 ± 1.1 vs. 2.4 ± 1.1, p = 0.002) compared to 3 T.
3D T 1-weighted SPACE can be used for intracranial vessel wall evaluation at both 3 and 7 T. 7 T provides significantly better image quality and improves the confidence of diagnosis.
颅内血管壁的高分辨率磁共振成像（MRI）为颅内血管疾病的评估提供了重要信息。本研究旨在利用定制的翻转角序列设计，优化3T和7T下颅内血管壁成像的高分辨率3D MRI技术，并探讨它们的比较能力。
11例颅内动脉疾病患者（4例动脉粥样硬化斑块、6例动脉瘤和1例可逆性脑血管收缩综合征）在3T和7T下，于静脉注射钆对比剂前后，采用3D T1加权快速自旋回波序列（SPACE）进行成像。对壁腔对比率（CRwall-lumen）、对比增强率（ER）和血管壁清晰度进行量化。两名经验丰富的放射科医生以0-5分的尺度评估图像质量。
3T和7T均获得了高分辨率（标称各向同性0.5mm）和全脑覆盖的良好图像质量。CRwall-lumen和ER测量结果具有可比性（p>0.05）。与3T相比，7T图像明显更清晰（清晰度：2.69±0.50 vs. 1.88±0.53mm-1，p<0.001），图像质量更高（读者1评分：3.5±1.1 vs. 2.4±1.1，p=0.002）。
3D T1加权SPACE序列可用于3T和7T下的颅内血管壁评估。7T提供了明显更好的图像质量，提高了诊断的可信度。
