Usefulness of high-b-value diffusion-weighted imaging in acute cerebral infarction.

Toyoda, Keiko; Kitai, Satomi; Ida, Masahiro; Suga, Sadao; Aoyagi, Yutaka; Fukuda, Kunihiko

The aim of our study was to investigate the usefulness of high-b-value diffusion-weighted (DW) MR imaging in patients with acute cerebral infarction. DW images at b-values of 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 s/mm(2) were performed for 32 patients 48 h after the onset of stroke using a 1.5 T clinical imager. The area of restricted diffusion became more distinct and extensive with increasing b-value in 19 of 32 patients, especially in patients with the atherothrombotic-type cerebral infarction. The visualized extent of infarction was almost the same among the area of restricted diffusion on the b=3,000 ADC map, b=3,000 DWI and final infarction in 12 of 15 patients. High-b-value DWI provided better identification of lesion extension in the cerebral ischemia. It is suggested that the size of the final infarction or irreversible cytotoxic edema is more predictable on high-b-value DWIs than on the usual b=1,000 DWI.

CEREBRAL infarction; MAGNETIC resonance imaging; CEREBROVASCULAR disease; CEREBRAL ischemia; INFARCTION; RADIOGRAPHY; DIAGNOSTIC imaging; COMPUTERS in medicine; ACUTE diseases; MEDICAL artifacts; DIAGNOSIS

European Radiology, 2007, Vol 17, Issue 5, p1212

0938-7994

Academic Journal

10.1007/s00330-006-0397-9