Assessment of leptomeningeal collaterals using dynamic CT angiography in patients with acute ischemic stroke

Nature: 11/14/12

Whole-brain dynamic time-resolved computed tomography angiography (CTA) is a technique developed on the new 320-detector row CT scanner capable of generating time-resolved cerebral angiograms from skull base to vertex. Unlike a conventional cerebral angiogram, this technique visualizes pial arterial filling in all vascular territories, thereby providing additional hemodynamic information. Ours was a retrospective study of consecutive patients with ischemic stroke and M1 middle cerebral artery +/−intracranial internal carotid artery occlusions presenting to our center from June 2010 and undergoing dynamic time-resolved CTA and perfusion CT within 6 hours of symptom onset. Leptomeningeal collateral status was assessed by determining relative prominence of pial arteries in the ischemic region, rate and extent of retrograde flow, and various topographical patterns of pial arterial filling. Twenty-five patients were included in the study.  Read more