Magnetic resonance imaging of intracranial atherosclerosis: recent progress in research

Intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) is closely associated with ischemic stroke.It has become one of the major causes of stroke in our country. MRA, as an imaging method for ICAD diagnosis, is widely used in clinic. High-resolution MRI can provide information of vascular structure and atherosclerotic plaques of ICAD. The interest of current high-resolution MRI research is focused on plaque characteristics evaluation and pathological mechanism determination. We reviewed current research status and future development trends of MRI in ICAD. (authors)