Intravenous digital subtraction angiography of the precerebral and cerebral arteries in patients with TIA. A comparison with conventional angiography.

A study of the diagnostic utility of both intravenous digital subtraction angiography (IV-DSA) and conventional angiography of precerebral and cerebral arteries is presented. The series comprised 60 patients with TIA, who underwent the two procedures with a mean interval of 16 days. Conventional angiography was generally superior to IV-DSA, and this was particularly marked in the siphons and cerebral arteries. Only the excellent IV-DSA examinations obtained in a few patients with TIA could be accepted as final pre-operative procedures. Accurate imaging of the lesions and collateral flow pattern usually required intra-arterial injections, and intra-arterial DSA is now usually preferred.