Verification of enhancement of the CSF space, not parenchyma, in acute stroke patients with early blood-brain barrier disruption.
Enhancement on post-contrast fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images after acute stroke has been attributed to early blood-brain barrier disruption. Using an estimate of parenchymal volume fraction and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), we investigated the relative contributions of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and parenchyma to enhancement seen on postcontrast FLAIR. Enhancing regions were found to have low parenchymal volume fractions and high ADC values, approaching that of pure CSF. These findings suggest that contrast enhancement on FLAIR occurs predominately in the CSF space, not parenchyma.
Henning
Erica C
EC
Section on Stroke Diagnostics and Therapeutics, Stroke Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. henninge@ninds.nih.gov
Latour
Lawrence L
LL
Warach
Steven
S
D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000473:pathology*; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid; D003287:Contrast Media; D005110:Extracellular Space; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000473:pathology*
D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA