PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lane, J I
AU  - Flanders, A E
AU  - Doan, H T
AU  - Bell, R D
TI  - Assessment of carotid artery patency on routine spin-echo MR imaging of the brain.
DP  - 1991 Sep 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 819--826
VI  - 12
IP  - 5
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/12/5/819.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/12/5/819.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.1991 Sep 01; 12
AB  - We retrospectively reviewed the routine spin-echo MR studies of the brain in 12 patients with 13 angiographically demonstrated occlusions and in 14 patients with 16 high-grade stenoses of the carotid arteries. Intraluminal signal that was isointense with adjacent brain on long TR/short TE and long TR/long TE images was 100% specific for atherosclerotic occlusion. Of the 13 proved occlusions, six (46%) had significant degrees of hyperintense intraluminal signal indistinguishable from that observed consequent to slow flow distal to high-grade stenoses. MR detected only five (31%) of the 16 proved high-grade stenoses. Normal flow void does not exclude significant extracranial carotid stenosis. Occlusion cannot always be distinguished from high-grade stenosis when hyperintense intraluminal signal is encountered. However, a reliable diagnosis of atherosclerotic occlusion can be made when isointense intraluminal signal is observed.