Changes of Atherosclerotic Plaque in Cerebral Artery Stenosis According to High-Resolution MR Imaging

Figures

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  Figure 1. Examples of progression and regression of cerebral artery stenosis on HR-MRI. (A,B): Atherosclerotic plaque (arrow). (A) Upper panel: initial T1-weighted (T1w) HR-MR imaging reveals moderate stenosis in the right ICA; lower panel: follow-up T1w HR-MR imaging indicates severe stenosis in the right ICA. (B): Upper panel: initial T2-weighted (T2w) HR-MR imaging of the MCA with stenosis. Lower panel: follow-up T2w HR-MR imaging shows the MCA without stenosis. HR-MRI = high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging; ICA = internal carotid artery; MCA = middle cerebral artery.

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  Figure 2. Examples of progression and regression of intraplaque hemorrhage on HR-MRI. (A,B) Atherosclerotic plaque with intraplaque hemorrhage (arrow). (A) Upper panel: initial T1-weighted (T1w) HR-MR imaging in the left CCA shows an eccentric plaque with intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH); lower panel: follow-up T1w HR-MR imaging shows significant atherosclerotic lesion with high signal intensity in the same area that indicates progression of IPH more than the initial imaging does. (B): Upper panel: initial T1w HR-MR imaging shows an eccentric lesion with IPH in the MCA. Lower panel: follow-up T1w HR-MR imaging reveals the MCA without IPH. HR-MRI = high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging; CCA = common carotid artery; MCA = middle cerebral artery.

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  Figure 3. Flowchart of the study population. In total, 800 patients with acute ischemic stroke who had undergone HR-MRI were selected in this study. Analysis of HR-MRI was performed for the cerebral arteries of 59 patients who had undergone repeated HR-MRI. Twelve patients with arterial dissection and five patients with insufficient data were excluded from this study. This study lastly comprised 42 patients with atherosclerosis. HR-MRI, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging.