Cerebral white matter lesions may be partially reversible in patients with carotid artery stenosis.
Contrary to the common belief that age-related WMLs (also known as leukoaraiosis) are a progressive condition, a case of partial reversal of WMLs shortly after carotid artery stenting is described. A 75-year-old man presented with frequent TIAs, which were attributed to right ICA stenosis. He subsequently underwent successful carotid artery stenting. Follow-up MR imaging a week after the procedure showed improvement of WMLs in the right cerebral hemisphere. Pixel-by-pixel image analysis showed that the reversed WMLs tended to have higher lambda1 and lower signal intensity on b = 0 images compared with nonreversed lesions, but by only approximately 10%.
Yamada
Kei
K
Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kajii-cho, Kawaramachi Hirokoji Agaru, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto, Japan. kyamada@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp
Sakai
K
K
Owada
K
K
Mineura
K
K
Nishimura
T
T
D000368:Aged; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D056784:Leukoencephalopathies / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D015607:Stents