Effect of evaluation of vertebrobasilar artery atherosclerosis on the progress of posterior circulation ischemia with high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging / 中国脑血管病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the value of evaluating vertebrobasilar artery atherosclerosis with 3.0 T high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) in the progress of posterior circulation transient cerebral ischemia (TIA).Methods From July 2013 to July 2014,30 consecutive patients (outpatients and inpatients) with posterior circulation TIA at the Department of Neurology,the First People's Hospital of Changshu were enrolled respectively.They were all confirmed as the presence of vertebrobasilar atherosclerotic plaques by the head magnetic resonance angiography.The vertebrobasilar artery plaques were examined with 3 T HR-MRI to assess the nature and stability of the plaques.They were randomly divided into either a stable plaque group (n =16) or an unstable plaque group (n =14) according to the results of plaque stability.They were followed up for 24 months.The time and proportion from the first visit to the posterior circulation infarction were recorded and compared between the two groups of patients.Results At the end of follow-up,the time of posterior circulation infarction in the unstable group was significantly shorter than that in the stable group,and the difference was statistically significant (11.5 [7.0,20.0] months vs.24.0[22.5,24.0] months,Z =-2.755,P ＜ 0.05).The ratios of posterior circulation infarction in the stable group and the unstable group were 5/16 and 8/14 respectively.The difference was not statistically significant between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Evaluating the results of vertebrobasilar artery atherosclerosis plaque with HR-MRI has a certain value for the progression of posterior circulation ischemia disease.