| Purpose:We aimed to compare images obtained with an ESWAN sequence with those obtained with an SWI-SPGR sequence and a2D T2*-weighted GRE sequence for the description of CMBs in hypertensive patients.Materials and Methods:A total of273elderly hypertensive patients were imaged in a3.0-T MR scanner using ESWAN, SWI-SPGR, and2D T2*-weighted GRE sequence respectively. The presence, number and location of CMBs and scanning and post-processing time were recorded for both sequences, and the differences were tested using nonparametric McNemar and Friedman tests.Results:CMBs were detected in2D T2*-weighted GRE images of54(19.8%) participants, in SWI-SPGR images of83(30.4%) participants and in ESWAN images of88(32.2%) participants. The difference in the detection of CMBs between2D T2*-weighted GRE sequences and SWI-SPGR or ESWAN sequences was highly significant (P<0.05). The detection of CMBs did not differ between SWI-SPGR and ESWAN sequences (P>0.05). In the large samples, the fewer hypertensive patients with CMBs were detected by2D T2*-weighted GRE sequence than those detected by SWI-SPGR or ESWAN sequence in different classifications (P<0.05).SWI-SPGR or ESWAN sequence could detect more lesions (median8, range1-17; median8. range1-15) than these observed using2D T2*-weighted GRE sequence (median8, range1-17). The number of CMBs detected by SWI-SPGR sequence was equal to the number detected by ESWAN sequence, and there was no difference between them (Friedman test, P>0.05). Conclusions:ESWAN sequence was not superior to SWI-SPGR sequence in depicting CMBs at3-T MR, but both of these sequences were superior to2D T2*-weighted GRE sequence. Purpose: The presence of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) may have predictive and diagnostic value for cerebrovascular diseases. The purpose of our study was to measure the phase values (PVs) of CMBs by phase maps.Materials and Methods:We retrospectively analyzed75hypertensive patients who had CMBs using enhanced3D multi-echo GE T2*-weighted angiography (ESWAN). The PVs of CMBs were measured and documented. The mean PVs of CMBs were correlated with demographic features and the grade of white matter lesions for7brain regions.Results:In the75patients with hypertension, a total275CMBs were found.The overall mean PV was-1.39±0.29radians (range:-2.18to-0.66radians).We compared the mean PV of CMBs in different regions using one-way ANOVA, and differences were statistically significant (F=6.97,P<0.05). The mean PV of CMBs in the7brain regions was significantly lower than those of the red nucleus and substantia nigra of healthy controls (P<0.05). The SNK-q method was employed to compare the mean PV of CMBs from the different regions. There were no statistically significant differences among basal ganglia grey matter, cortex, thalamus, or EC/IC (P>0.05). The mean PV of CMBs in the basal ganglia grey matter was significantly lower than those in the brainstem. subcortical white matter, and cerebellum (P<0.05). The mean PV of CMBs in the cerebellum was significantly higher than those in other regions. We found that the mean PV of CMBs in patients with<10years history of hypertension was significantly lower than that of patients with a history≥10years (P<0.05). The mean PV of CMBs in men was significantly lower than in women (P=0.01, P<0.05). We also observed that the mean PV of CMBs in patients with grade1hypertension was higher than for patients with grade2hypertension (P=0.02, P<0.05). The correlation between the mean PV of CMBs in subcortical white matter and the duration of hypertension was positive (r=0.30, P=0.06), while that of the brainstem was negative (r=-0.40, P=0.12). The mean PV of CMBs in the basal ganglia grey matter was negatively correlated with the increase of the hypertension grade (r=-0.25, P=0.02). The mean PV of CMBs in the thalamus had a negative correlation with increase in age (r=-0.30, P=0.07) and myelinopathy (r=-0.31, P=0.06).Conclusions:Using ESWAN sequence, measurement of the PV of phase maps provides quantitative information for detection of CMBs. The measurement data reported herein will provide a reference for a longitudinal study of CMBs in the future. Purpose:The purpose of the present study was to measure phase values (PVs) and fractional anisotropy (FA) of cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) using phase and FA map, and to investigate the potential relationship between PVs and FAs in CMBs in vivo.Materials and Methods:We retrospectively analyzed30patients with CMBs using enhanced3D multi-echo GE T2*-weighted angiography (ESWAN) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The PVs and FAs of CMBs were measured and documented, and the mean FAs were compared between CMBs and the corresponding normal brain tissue. The mean PVs were correlated with FAs in CMBs in seven different brain regions.Results:In the30patients with cerebral microbleeds. a total of106CMBs were discovered. We divided the brain into seven regions, including the cortex, white matter,external capsule/internal capsule(EC/IC), thalamus, basal ganglia, brainstem, and cerebellum. There were no statistically significant differences among either the cortex, basal ganglia or brainstem. The mean FA of CMBs in the white matter, EC/IC, thalamus, and cerebellum was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05).Positive correlations were found between the PV and FA of CMBs in white matter, EC/IC (r=0.696,0.382). There was no correlation between the PV and FA of CMBs in the cortex, thalamus, basal ganglia, brainstem and cerebellum. In our study, the white matter, EC/IC were regarded as a whole. Positive correlations were found between the PV and FA of the CMBs (r=0.436). There was no correlation between the PV and FA in the cortex, white matter, EC/IC, thalamus, basal ganglia, brainstem or cerebellum in the control group.Conclusion:ESWAN and DTI sequence may be useful neuroimaging sequences that could reflect the severity of damage of white matter by measuring the FA of CMBs and provide useful reference data for the quantitative assessment of CMBs. |
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