Contrast-Enhanced and Time-of-Flight MRA at 3T Compared with DSA for the Follow-Up of Intracranial Aneurysms Treated with the WEB Device.
Imaging follow-up at 3T of intracranial aneurysms treated with the WEB Device has not been evaluated yet. Our aim was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of 3D-time-of-flight MRA and contrast-enhanced MRA at 3T against DSA, as the criterion standard, for the follow-up of aneurysms treated with the Woven EndoBridge (WEB) system.



From June 2011 to December 2014, patients treated with the WEB in our institution, then followed for ≥6 months after treatment by MRA at 3T (3D-TOF-MRA and contrast-enhanced MRA) and DSA within 48 hours were included. Aneurysm occlusion was assessed with a simplified 2-grade scale (adequate occlusion [total occlusion + neck remnant] versus aneurysm remnant). Interobserver and intermodality agreement was evaluated by calculating the linear weighted κ. MRA test characteristics and predictive values were calculated from a 2 × 2 contingency table, by using DSA data as the standard of reference.



Twenty-six patients with 26 WEB-treated aneurysms were included. The interobserver reproducibility was good with DSA (κ = 0.71) and contrast-enhanced-MRA (κ = 0.65) compared with moderate with 3D-TOF-MRA (κ = 0.47). Intermodality agreement with DSA was fair with both contrast-enhanced MRA (κ = 0.36) and 3D-TOF-MRA (κ = 0.36) for the evaluation of total occlusion. For aneurysm remnant detection, the prevalence was low (15%), on the basis of DSA, and both MRA techniques showed low sensitivity (25%), high specificity (100%), very good positive predictive value (100%), and very good negative predictive value (88%).



Despite acceptable interobserver reproducibility and predictive values, the low sensitivity of contrast-enhanced MRA and 3D-TOF-MRA for aneurysm remnant detection suggests that MRA is a useful screening procedure for WEB-treated aneurysms, but similar to stents and flow diverters, DSA remains the criterion standard for follow-up.
From the Department of Neuroradiology (C.T., S.S., A.B., L.P.), Hôpital Maison Blanche, Université de Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France.
C
0000-0002-8449-2262
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Timsit
From the Department of Neuroradiology (C.T., S.S., A.B., L.P.), Hôpital Maison Blanche, Université de Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France.
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0000-0002-6893-661X
S
Soize
From the Department of Neuroradiology (C.T., S.S., A.B., L.P.), Hôpital Maison Blanche, Université de Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France.
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0000-0002-2721-5023
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Benaissa
CReSTIC SIC EA3804 (C.P.), Université de Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France.
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0000-0002-2179-0182
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Portefaix
Department of Neuroradiology (J.-Y.G.), Hôpital Pontchaillou, Rennes, France Unité VISAGES U746 INSERM-INRIA (J.-Y.G.), IRISA UMR CNRS 6074, University of Rennes, Rennes, France.
J-Y
0000-0002-8057-6004
JY
Gauvrit
From the Department of Neuroradiology (C.T., S.S., A.B., L.P.), Hôpital Maison Blanche, Université de Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France lpierot@gmail.com.
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0000-0002-2523-4909
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Pierot
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction / Q000379:methods*; D002533:Cerebral Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D004621:Embolization, Therapeutic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015607:Stents; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult