Intracranial atherosclerosis in ischemic stroke with posterior circulation: A high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging study / 中国脑血管病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: To explore the characteristics of intracranial atherosclerosis and possible pathogenesis of posterior circulation ischaemic stroke by 3. 0 T high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Methods: The imaging and clinical features of intracranial atherosclerosis in 21 patients with posterior ischemic symptoms admitted in the Department of Neurology of Hebei General Hospital from December 2016 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. The recruited patients were divided into the posterior circulation ischemic stroke group(10cases and 45 plaques) and the non-stroke group(11 cases and 25 plaques) according to their clinical symptoms, signs and imaging manifestations. Clinical data of all patients were collected, and high-resolution 3D time-of-flight MR angiography was used to evaluate the degree of vascular stenosis. Also, plaque characteristics including burden, enhancement, hyperintensity and morphology were counted on high-resolution Tl weighted imaging axial images. Results: The The proportion of diabetes was significantly different between the two groups (P = 0. 024). There were no significant differences in age, sex, smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia, hyperhomocysteinemia, stroke history and history of coronary atherosclerotic heart disease between the two groups (all P > 0. 05). The plaque burden in the posterior circulation ischemic stroke group was higher than that in the non-stroke group ([4. 5 ±1.6] vs. [2. 3 ±1.6]) with significant difference (t = 3. 190, P = 0.005). Plaque enhancement between the two groups was significant different (40.0% [18/45] vs. 16. 0% [4/25], X2 =4. 295, P = 0. 038). There was no significant difference in plaque high signal and plaque morphology between the two groups(all P > 0. 05). Conclusion: Patients in the posterior ischemic stroke group had a higher prevalence of diabetes, and intracranial atherosclerotic plaque burden and plaque enhancement were more common, suggesting that the posterior ischemic stroke group had a higher vulnerability of plaque.