Monitoring Intramural Hematoma on Vessel Wall Imaging to Evaluate the Healing of Intracranial Vertebral Artery Dissection.

OBJECTIVE

Unruptured intracranial vertebral artery dissection (VAD) generally heals spontaneously. A chronological evaluation of intramural hematoma (IMH) using T1-weighted vessel wall imaging (VWI) may provide a more detailed understanding of the pathophysiology of VAD. We herein investigated the relationship between chronological signal changes in IMH on VWI and the spontaneous healing of VAD.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

We retrospectively investigated 26 patients with 27 unruptured VADs who underwent magnetic resonance (MR) imaging more than three times during the follow-up period. Morphological changes were evaluated using MR angiography (MRA). The relative signal intensity (RSI) of IMH against the posterior cervical muscle on T1-weighted VWI was calculated. The ratio of chronological RSI changes was defined as follows: maximum RSI/minimum RSI (RSI max/min). Based on the median value of RSI max/min, 27 VADs were divided into VADs with and without chronological RSI changes. Statistical analyses were performed to compare clinical and radiological findings between the two groups.

RESULTS

Spontaneous healing occurred in 17 out of 27 VADs (63%). The median value of RSI max/min was 1.48. The RSI of VADs with chronological RSI changes (RSI max/min ≥ 1.48) increased until three weeks after their onset and decreased over time, while that of VADs without chronological RSI changes (RSI max/min < 1.48) showed no change. The frequency of healing was significantly higher in VADs with than without chronological RSI changes (100% vs 23%, p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Chronological signal changes in IMH on T1-weighted VWI have potential as a diagnostic imaging marker of the spontaneous healing of VAD.