TY - JOUR T1 - Characterization of Craniocervical Artery Dissection by Simultaneous MR Noncontrast Angiography and Intraplaque Hemorrhage Imaging at 3T JF - American Journal of Neuroradiology JO - Am. J. Neuroradiol. DO - 10.3174/ajnr.A4348 AU - Q. Li AU - J. Wang AU - H. Chen AU - X. Gong AU - N. Ma AU - K. Gao AU - L. He AU - M. Guan AU - Z. Chen AU - R. Li AU - D. Mi AU - C. Yuan AU - X. Zhao AU - X. Zhao Y1 - 2015/06/04 UR - http://www.ajnr.org/content/early/2015/06/04/ajnr.A4348.abstract N2 - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Craniocervical artery dissection is the most common cause of ischemic stroke identified in young adults. For the diagnosis of craniocervical artery dissection, multisequence MR imaging is recommended but is time-consuming. Recently, investigators proposed a simultaneous noncontrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage imaging technique allowing simultaneous noncontrast MRA and vessel wall imaging in a single scan. This study sought to investigate the feasibility of 3D simultaneous noncontrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage MR imaging in the characterization of craniocervical artery dissection.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-four symptomatic patients (mean age, 45.0 ± 16.1 years; 21 men) with suspected craniocervical artery dissection were recruited. The 3D simultaneous noncontrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage 3D TOF MRA and black-blood imaging sequences were performed on a 3T MR imaging scanner. The agreement between simultaneous noncontrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage imaging and multisequence MR imaging in evaluating arterial dissection was determined.RESULTS: Dissection was found to involve 1 artery in 22 patients and 2 arteries in 2 patients. The intramural hematoma and luminal occlusion were detected in 19 (79.2%) and 11 (45.8%) patients, respectively. In measuring stenosis, the Cohen κ value between 3D TOF MRA and simultaneous noncontrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage imaging was 0.82 (P < .001). All intramural hematomas on multisequence imaging were successfully identified by simultaneous noncontrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage imaging.CONCLUSIONS: 3D simultaneous noncontrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage imaging showed excellent agreement with multisequence MR imaging in evaluating luminal stenosis and intramural hematoma in patients with craniocervical artery dissection. The simultaneous noncontrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage imaging saved nearly 50% of scanning time compared with multisequence MR imaging. Our findings suggest that 3D simultaneous noncontrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage imaging might be an alternative, time-efficient diagnostic tool for craniocervical artery dissection.AbbreviationsCCADcraniocervical artery dissectionIMHintramural hematomaMERGEMulti-Echo Recombined Gradient EchoSNAPsimultaneous noncontrast angiography and intraplaque hemorrhage ER -