PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - M. Takasugi
AU  - S. Fujii
AU  - Y. Shinohara
AU  - T. Kaminou
AU  - T. Watanabe
AU  - T. Ogawa
TI  - Parenchymal Hypointense Foci Associated with Developmental Venous Anomalies: Evaluation by Phase-Sensitive MR Imaging at 3T
AID  - 10.3174/ajnr.A3495
DP  - 2013 Apr 18
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/early/2013/04/18/ajnr.A3495.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/early/2013/04/18/ajnr.A3495.full
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The risk of hemorrhage in the context of developmental venous anomaly is considered to be very low, but it has never been evaluated by susceptibility-weighted MR imaging at 3T. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of hypointense foci (ie, microhemorrhage or cavernous malformation) associated with DVA on phase-sensitive MR imaging, on the basis of principles similar to those of susceptibility-weighted MR imaging, and to evaluate the relationship between the hypointense foci and several factors, such as white matter hyperintense lesions adjacent to DVA on T2-weighted imaging, DVA morphology, and clinical symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study retrospectively evaluated 61 lesions in 59 consecutive patients with DVA who underwent MR imaging including phase-sensitive MR imaging. Two neuroradiologists independently assessed for the presence of hypointense foci and other factors such as DVA location, depth, size, direction of draining vein on phase-sensitive MR imaging, and white matter hyperintense lesion on T2-weighted imaging. Clinical symptoms were also assessed. RESULTS: Hypointense foci were observed in 62.3% (38/61) of lesions. White matter hyperintense lesion was more frequently observed in patients with hypointense foci (26/38) than in patients without hypointense foci (7/23) (P < .01). There was no significant association between hypointense foci and other factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the hypothesis that microhemorrhage or cavernous malformation can be related to venous congestion caused by abnormal venous drainage. We conclude that phase-sensitive MR imagingis useful for the detection of microhemorrhage or cavernous malformation in patients with DVA, especially when associated with white matter hyperintense lesion. Abbreviations CMcavernous malformationDVAdevelopmental venous anomalyICHintracranial hemorrhagePSIphase-sensitive MR imagingWMHwhite matter hyperintense lesion