title: Non-stenotic intracranial arteries have atherosclerotic changes in acute ischemic stroke patients: a 3T MRI study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study is to evaluate the degree of atherosclerotic changes in intracranial arteries by assessing arterial wall thickness using T1-weighted 3D-turbo spin echo (3D-TSE) and time-of-flight MR angiography (TOF-MRA) in patients with acute ischemic stroke as compared with unaffected controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-three patients with acute ischemic stroke and 36 control patients were analyzed. Acute ischemic stroke patients were divided according to TOAST classification. At both distal internal carotid arteries and basilar artery without stenosis, TOF-MRA was used to select non-stenotic portion of assessed arteries. 3D-TSE was used to measure the area including the lumen and wall (AreaOuter) and luminal area (AreaInner). The area of the vessel wall (AreaVW) of assessed intracranial arteries and the ratio index (RI) of each patient were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  AreaInner, AreaOuter, AreaVW, and RI showed good inter-observer reliability and excellent intra-observer reliability. AreaInner did not significantly differ between stroke patients and controls (P = 0.619). However, AreaOuter, AreaVW, and RI were significantly larger in stroke patients (P < 0.001). The correlation coefficient between AreaInner and AreaOuter was higher in the controls (r = 0.918) than in large vessel disease patients (r = 0.778). RI of large vessel disease patients was significantly higher than that of normal control, small vessel disease, and cardioembolic groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with acute ischemic stroke, wall thickening and positive remodeling are evident in non-stenotic intracranial arteries. This change is more definite in stroke subtype that is related to atherosclerosis than that in other subtypes which are not.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 137-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Woo Jin
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 137-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Seok
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 137-701, South Korea. znee@catholic.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jinhee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 137-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jinkyeong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Tae-Won
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jaseong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Sam
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 137-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: So-Lyung
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 137-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Kook-Jin
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222 Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, 137-701, South Korea.
authors.forename: Bum-Soo
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D002539:Cerebral Arterial Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D002537:Intracranial Arteriosclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Intracranial atherosclerosis; Ischemic stroke; MR angiography