Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
3D-TOF-MRA and DSA are 2 available tools to demonstrate neurovascular involvement in primary central nervous system vasculitis. We aimed to compare the diagnostic concordance of vessel imaging using 3D-TOF-MRA and DSA in patients with primary central nervous system vasculitis.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We retrospectively identified all patients included in the French primary central nervous system vasculitis cohort of 85 patients who underwent, at baseline, both intracranial 3D-TOF-MRA and DSA in an interval of no more than 2 weeks and before treatment initiation. Two neuroradiologists independently reviewed all 3D-TOF-MRA and DSA imaging. Brain vasculature was divided into 25 arterial segments. Concordance between 3D-TOF-MRA and DSA for the identification of arterial stenosis was assessed by the Cohen κ Index.
RESULTS
Thirty-one patients met the inclusion criteria, including 20 imaged with a 1.5T MR unit and 11 with a 3T MR unit. Among the 25 patients (81%) with abnormal DSA findings, 24 demonstrated abnormal 3D-TOF-MRA findings, whereas all 6 remaining patients with normal DSA findings had normal 3D-TOF-MRA findings. In the per-segment analysis, concordance between 1.5T 3D-TOF-MRA and DSA was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.75–0.93), and between 3T 3D-TOF-MRA and DSA, it was 0.87 (95% CI, 0.78–0.91).
CONCLUSIONS
3D-TOF-MRA shows a high concordance with DSA in diagnostic performance when analyzing brain vasculature in patients with primary central nervous system vasculitis. In patients with negative 3T 3D-TOF-MRA findings, the added diagnostic value of DSA is limited.
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Editor’s Choice
The authors compared the diagnostic concordance of vessel imaging using 3D-TOF-MRA and DSA in 85 patients with primary central nervous system vasculitis. Among the 25 patients with abnormal DSA findings, 24 demonstrated abnormal 3D-TOF-MRA findings, whereas all 6 remaining patients with normal DSA findings had normal 3D-TOF-MRA findings. They conclude that 3D-TOF-MRA shows a high concordance with DSA in diagnostic performance when analyzing vasculature in patients with primary central nervous system vasculitis and that with negative 3T 3D-TOF-MRA findings, the added diagnostic value of DSA is limited.