Added diagnostic utility of CT perfusion and CT angiography in acute ischemic stroke. Evaluation of three different patient categories.
Patients with a clinical picture of acute ischemic stroke are a heterogeneous group. The aim of this study was to evaluate the added utility of CT perfusion (CTP) and CT angiography (CTA) in the workup of three different categories of acute ischemic stroke patients. Fifty patients (61+/-15 years old) were included in this retrospective analysis. Twenty-nine patients had transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) (Group I), 15 were not eligible for treatment with thrombolysis (Group II) and six showed no improvement after thrombolysis (Group III). CTP and CTA provided additional information, not revealed by plain CT, in all the Group II patients and in one third of the patients belonging to the other groups. The final diagnoses were TIA (n=23), thromboembolic cerebral infarctions (n=22), carotid artery dissection (n=4) and metastases (n=1). Of the 29 patients admitted with TIA, only 22 patients still had this diagnosis on discharge from the stroke unit. Given the risk of impending stroke, it would be important to include these modalities in the initial workup of TIA.
Abul-Kasim
Kasim
K
Faculty of Medicine, University of Lund, Sweden. Kasim.Abul-Kasim@med.lu.se
Brizzi
Marco
M
Petersson
Jesper
J
Sundgren
Pia C
PC
D000368:Aged; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002533:Cerebral Angiography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010477:Perfusion / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome