Effect of a flow-diverter stent on flow in the vessel and aneurysm measured with MRI.

Flow diverter stents are effective for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms at a high risk of rupture. Still, complications may occur after stent implantation, so evaluation of aneurysm treatment is required. Treatment follow-up can be performed with 4D phase-contrast MRI. In this work, flow within the aneurysm and adjacent vessels with and without stent was measured with 4D flow. Strong metal artifacts were observed at the parent vessel which resulted in MRI signal voids and a 30 % reduction of measured flow. No artifacts were seen within an aneurysm sac, here flow was reduced up to 83 %.