Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China.
Magn Reson Imaging. 2023 Oct;102:38-42. doi: 10.1016/j.mri.2022.12.028. Epub 2023 Jan 3.
The lenticulostriate artery (LSA) is a vital perforating cerebral artery, whose occlusion often leads to lacunar infarction. Currently, digital subtraction angiography is mainly used to visualize the LSA in the clinical setting; however, its invasiveness is an important limiting factor. Studies have shown that time-of-flight (TOF) sequencing using a high-field magnetic resonance system (7 T) can better image the LSA. However, the diameter of the LSA is extremely small (approximately 0.3-0.7 mm) with relatively slow blood flow velocity; therefore, imaging the LSA with a 3-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner remains challenging. This study aimed to visualize the LSA using 3-dimensional-TOF magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with compressed sensing using a 3-T system and compare the length and number of the LSAs between patients with infarction and normal controls. The scan times of 3D-TOF MRA with and without compressed sensing were 7 min, and 8 min 44 s, respectively. VR displayed the LSA clearly under both conditions. The total number (p > 0.05) and length (p > 0.05) of the LSAs did not differ significantly between 3D-TOF MRA with and without compressed sensing. However, the total length and number of visualized LSAs was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the infarction group compared to the control group for both TOF MRA and TOF MRA with compressed sensing. TOF MRA combined with compressed sensing is clinically valuable for analyzing the morphological characteristics of the LSA, and shortens the imaging time to 7 min. This combined technique can meet the requirements of shorter scanning times in clinical settings.
纹状体动脉（LSA）是重要的穿支动脉，其闭塞常导致腔隙性梗死。目前，数字减影血管造影术主要用于临床可视化 LSA；但其侵袭性是一个重要的限制因素。研究表明，使用高磁场磁共振系统（7T）的时间飞跃（TOF）序列可以更好地成像 LSA。然而，LSA 的直径极小（约 0.3-0.7mm），血流速度相对较慢；因此，使用 3T 磁共振成像（MRI）扫描仪对 LSA 进行成像仍然具有挑战性。本研究旨在使用 3T 系统的压缩感知三维时间飞跃磁共振血管造影（MRA）可视化 LSA，并比较梗死患者和正常对照组 LSA 的长度和数量。三维时间飞跃 MRA 有无压缩感知的扫描时间分别为 7 分钟和 8 分 44 秒。VR 在两种情况下均清晰显示 LSA。有无压缩感知的三维时间飞跃 MRA 的 LSA 总数（p>0.05）和长度（p>0.05）无显著差异。然而，与对照组相比，TOF MRA 和 TOF MRA 联合压缩感知在梗死组中 LSA 的总长度和可视数量均显著降低（p<0.05）。TOF MRA 联合压缩感知在分析 LSA 的形态特征方面具有临床价值，并将成像时间缩短至 7 分钟。该联合技术可以满足临床中较短扫描时间的要求。
