PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Irie, R.
AU  - Suzuki, M.
AU  - Yamamoto, M.
AU  - Takano, N.
AU  - Suga, Y.
AU  - Hori, M.
AU  - Kamagata, K.
AU  - Takayama, M.
AU  - Yoshida, M.
AU  - Sato, S.
AU  - Hamasaki, N.
AU  - Oishi, H.
AU  - Aoki, S.
TI  - Assessing Blood Flow in an Intracranial Stent: A Feasibility Study of MR Angiography Using a Silent Scan after Stent-Assisted Coil Embolization for Anterior Circulation Aneurysms
AID  - 10.3174/ajnr.A4199
DP  - 2014 Dec 18
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/early/2014/12/18/ajnr.A4199.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/early/2014/12/18/ajnr.A4199.full
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Blood flow in an intracranial stent cannot be visualized with 3D time-of-flight MR angiography owing to magnetic susceptibility and radiofrequency shielding. As a novel follow-up tool after stent-assisted coil embolization, we applied MRA by using a Silent Scan algorithm that contains an ultrashort TE combined with an arterial spin-labeling technique (Silent MRA). The purpose of this study was to determine whether Silent MRA could visualize flow in an intracranial stent placed in the anterior circulation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nine patients treated with stent-assisted coil embolization for anterior circulation aneurysms underwent MRAs (Silent MRA and TOF MRA) and x-ray digital subtraction angiography. MRAs were performed in the same session on a 3T unit. Two neuroradiologists independently reviewed the MRA images and subjectively scored flow in a stent as 1 (not visible) to 4 (excellent) by referring to the latest x-ray digital subtraction angiography image as a criterion standard. RESULTS: Both observers gave Silent MRA higher scores than TOF MRA for flow in a stent in all cases. The mean score for Silent MRA was 3.44 ± 0.53, and for TOF MRA, it was 1.44 ± 0.46 (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Silent MRA was able to visualize flow in an intracranial stent more effectively than TOF MRA. Silent MRA might be useful for follow-up imaging after stent-assisted coil embolization, though these study results may be only preliminary due to some limitations.