The application of silent MR angiography in the imaging of brain arteriovenous malformation in children / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the application value of silent MR angiography (MRA) in imaging of brain arteriovenous malformation (BAVM) in children.Methods:A total of 20 children with BAVM confirmed by digital subtraction angiography (DSA) were retrospectively collected. All children were imaged by silent MRA and time-of-flight MRA (TOF MRA) in the same examination. The image quality of feeding artery, nidus and drainage vein of BAVM was evaluated using the four-point method. Wilcoxon rank-sum test was utilized to compare the image quality scores between silent MRA and TOF MRA. Weighted Kappa statistics used to evaluate the inter-modality agreement of silent MRA and TOF MRA with DSA in displaying of angioarchitecture characteristics and determination of Spetzler-Martin grading.Results:Among the 20 BAVMs, significant differences in image quality scores of the nidus (2.75±0.55 versus 2.20±0.70) and drainage vein (2.60±0.68 versus 2.20±0.77) were observed between silent MRA and TOF MRA ( Z=-3.05, P=0.002; Z=-2.13, P=0.033, respectively). The agreement between silent MRA and DSA was excellent in nidus size grading, deep venous drainage, associated aneurysm and SM grading (Kappa 0.91, 1.00, 0.83 and 0.93, respectively); The agreement between TOF MRA and DSA was fair to moderate (Kappa 0.46, 0.59, 0.35 and 0.47, respectively). Conclusions:Silent MRA showes better image quality compared to TOF MRA and improves the evaluation of angioarchitecture characteristics and Spetzler-Martin grading of BAVMs in children.