Diffusion-weighted MR imaging and T2-weighted MR imaging in acute cerebral ischaemia: comparison and correlation with histopathology.
Diffusion-weighted MR imaging is a new technique which measures the microscopic motion of water protons. Signal hyperintensity on diffusion-weighted images correlates closely with evidence of ischaemic damage on histopathologic sections. Following occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA), diffusion-weighted images indicate the presence of early pathophysiologic changes occurring first in the basal ganglia and, subsequently, in cortical gray matter within the MCA vascular territory. Diffusion-weighted images also better define the anatomic locus of ischaemic tissue injury than T2-weighted images. Diffusion-weighted imaging thus appears to facilitate early detection and thereby possible therapeutic intervention in patients with acute stroke.
Sevick
R J
RJ
Department of Radiology, University of California, San Francisco.
Kucharczyk
J
J
Mintorovitch
J
J
Moseley
M E
ME
Derugin
N
N
Norman
D
D
D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D002415:Cats; D002536:Cerebral Arteries; D004058:Diffusion; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013778:Tetrazolium Salts
D013778:Tetrazolium Salts; C009591:triphenyltetrazolium