ABSTRACT
Angiography has known and documented risks of neurological events. We prospectively studied 20 patients who underwent diagnostic cerebral angiographic examinations and diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI). Eighteen patients had DWI before and after their angiogram, whereas two patients had a DWI only after their angiogram (DWI was normal in both of these patients). No clinical neurological deficits were detected in any of our patients after angiography, but in three of 20 patients there was a new hyperintense signal abnormality found on DWI. Diffusion-weighted MRI provides an objective means of detecting both clinical and subclinical neurological events. Diffusion-weighted imaging might therefore provide an easier method of assessing complication rates in cerebral angiography by reducing the number of patients required for meaningful statistical analysis.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Angiography/adverse effects , Intracranial Embolism/diagnosis , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Adult , Aged , Angiography, Digital Subtraction/adverse effects , Female , Humans , Intracranial Embolism/diagnostic imaging , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
A case of anomalous communication of the external carotid and vertebral arteries via a pro-atlantal intersegmental artery (PIA) with an associated intracranial parenchymal arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is presented. The course of the PIA is displayed by both conventional catheter angiography and by MR angiography (MRA). To our knowledge, neither an associated intracranial parenchymal AVM nor depiction of this congenital anomaly on MRA has been previously described. We also briefly review the embryology and anatomy of this anomaly.
