Emerging Use of Ultra-High-Field 7T MRI in the Study of Intracranial Vascularity: State of the Field and Future Directions.

J.W Rutland,C Zhu,B.N Delman,P Balchandani,C.M Gill,R.K Shrivastava

doi:10.3174/ajnr.a6344

J.W Rutland, C Zhu + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.a6344

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Abstract

Cerebrovascular disease is a major source of mortality that commonly requires neurosurgical intervention. MR imaging is the preferred technique for imaging cerebrovascular structures, as well as regions of pathology that include microbleeds and ischemia. Advanced MR imaging sequences such as time-of-flight, susceptibility-weighted imaging, and 3D T2-weighted sequences have demonstrated excellent depiction of arterial and venous structures with and without contrast administration. While the advantages of 3T compared with 1.5T have been described, the role of ultra-high-field (7T) MR imaging in neurovascular imaging remains poorly understood. In the present review, we examine emerging neurosurgical applications of 7T MR imaging in vascular imaging of diverse conditions and discuss current limitations and future directions for this technique.

Highlights

Harteveld et al,[48] who used 3D gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted 7T MR imaging to quantify atherosclerotic lesion burden in patients with posterior cerebral ischemia, confirmed greater lesion burden in the posterior cerebral artery. These results suggest that 7T contrast-enhanced vessel wall imaging may aid in the association between intracranial vessel wall lesions and ischemic events
Increased SNR at 7T MR imaging did contribute to higher detection of lesions. While these results suggest that 7T MR imaging may be useful in screening for intracranial vessel lesions and quantifying overall lesion burden, future studies are required to determine whether the smaller lesions detected only at UHF
7T exhibited a significantly higher vessel wall SNR and contrastto-noise ratio for both T1- and T2weighted sequences.[55]. These results are similar to those of another carotid vessel wall lesions in the proximal anterior cerebral and posterior cerebral arteries is optimally imaged with 7T MR imaging.[50]

Summary

Introduction

Advanced high-resolution imaging methods may be useful in predicting atherosclerotic plaque rupture, embolization, and stroke (Fig 3).[47] Harteveld et al,[48] who used 3D gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted 7T MR imaging to quantify atherosclerotic lesion burden in patients with posterior cerebral ischemia, confirmed greater lesion burden in the posterior cerebral artery.

Results

Conclusion