title: High-resolution intracranial vessel wall imaging using 3D CUBE T1 weighted sequence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the feasibility of high-resolution 3D CUBE T1WI for intracranial vessel wall imaging.
  
  
  METHODS
  High-resolution 3D CUBE T1 weighted intracranial vessel wall images (0.4 mm × 0.4 mm × 0.4 mm) of 50 patients were retrospectively evaluated. A 5-point scale (1 poor, 5 excellent) was used to score the imaging quality for displaying the vessel wall of every intracranial artery segments. The inter-observer and intra-observer reproducibility of identifying plaques, intraplaque hemorrhage/luminal thrombosis, and wall enhancement were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Totally 893 artery segments were evaluated. 3D CUBE T1WI displayed the arteries wall and lumen clearly, with the highest score (4.920 ± 0.837) for the C6-7 segments and the lowest (3.370 ± 1.107) for the C3 segments of the internal carotid artery (ICA). Both intra-observer and inter-observer reproducibility were high for identification of normal walls (κ=0.928, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.891-0.954; κ=0.911, CI 0.868-0.940), plaque (κ=0.924, CI 0.884-0.954; κ=0.907, CI 0.866-0.943), luminal thrombosis (κ=1.000, CI 1.000-1.000; κ=1.000, CI 1.000-1.000), and wall enhancement (κ=1.000, CI 1.000-1.000; κ=0.914, CI 0.863-0.961).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High-resolution 3D CUBE T1WI displayed intracranial wall and lumen clearly, and detected intracranial artery abnormalities with high reproducibility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China. Electronic address: limingli@pumch.cn.
authors.forename: Ming-Li
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China. Electronic address: atlantis-1@163.com.
authors.forename: Yu-Yuan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China. Electronic address: hb8680@qq.com.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China. Electronic address: szy_2004@163.com.
authors.forename: Zhao-Yong
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China. Electronic address: Zhouhailong1028@126.com.
authors.forename: Hai-Long
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China. Electronic address: jin_zhengyu@163.com.
authors.forename: Zheng-Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China. Electronic address: cjr.fengfeng@vip.163.com.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100730, China. Electronic address: xuwh@pumch.cn.
authors.forename: Wei-Hai
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001488:Basilar Artery / Q000473:pathology; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000473:pathology; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D002533:Cerebral Angiography / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003287:Contrast Media; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020765:Intracranial Arterial Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D020767:Intracranial Thrombosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D058226:Plaque, Atherosclerotic / Q000175:diagnosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014711:Vertebral Artery / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA
keywords: High-resolution; Intracranial artery; Magnetic resonance imaging; T1 weighted imaging; Three-dimensional imaging; Vessel wall imaging