RESUMEN
Objective To investigate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-free three dimensional time-of-flight (3D-TOF-MRA) with VR at 3.0 T in the detection of intracranial aneurysms in a large cohort of patients prospectively.Methods Four hundred and eleven patients with suspected aneurysms and other cerebral vascular diseases received contrast-free 3D-TOF-MRA examinations at 3.0 T MRA 2 weeks prior to DSA examination.2D-DSA and VR-DSA were regarded as the gold standard.Six patients were excluded because of motion artifacts,and 36 patients were excluded due to lack of VR-DSA data.Accuracy,sensitivity an specificity in detecting intracranial aneurysms were determined by patient-,aneurysm-,and aneurysm sizebased (＜ 3 mm,3-5 mm,＞ 5-10 mm,＞ 10 mm) evaluations.Results In 369 enrolled patients,VR-DSA revealed 306 aneurysms in 246 patients (66.7％) and no aneurysm in 123 patients; VR 3D-TOF-MRA revealed 311 aneurysms in 249 patients and no aneurysm in 120 patients.The patient-based evaluation of VR 3 D-TOF-MRA at 3.0T yielded accuracy of 97.6％ (360/369),sensitivity of 99.2％ (242/244),and specificity of 94.4％ (118/125) in the detection of intracranial aneurysms.The aneurysm-based evaluation yielded accuracy of 98.3％ (524/533),sensitivity of 99.3％ (304/306),and specificity of 96.1％(220/229).The evaluation based on aneurysm sizes (＜ 3 mm) yielded accuracy of 96.4％ (214/222),sensitivity of 98.2％ (112/114),and specificity of 94.4％ (102/108).Conclusion VR 3D-TOF-MRA at 3.0 T MR can detect intracranial aneurysms accurately and may replace DSA as a contrast-free,noninvasive and non-radiation-based modality for the diagnosis and screening of intracranial aneurysms.