Preliminary evaluation of 3D TOF MRA fly-around advantages in the diagnosis of internal carotid artery aneurysms

Objective: To assess the advantages and the clinical application value of 3D TOF MR angiography fly-around in diagnosing internal carotid artery aneurysms in comparison with multi-slice helical CT three dimensional angiography (MS 3D-CTA) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA). Methods: Eighteen patients with clinical suspected internal carotid artery aneurysms were involved in the study. There were 4 males and 14 females, and their age ranged from 17 to 76 years. 14 patients were with subarachnoid hemorrhage and 4 patients with oculomotor nerve palsy. All these patients underwent 3D TOF MRA and MS 3D-CTA, and 17 patients underwent DSA. All of them accepted operation treatment. 3D TOF MRA was performed with Toshiba 1.5 T MRI system and the parameters of 3D-TOF sequence were: TR 30 ms, TE 6.8 ms, field of view 17 cm x 19 cm, matrix 160 x 256, slab thickness 50-60 mm, section thickness 1.2 mm, flip angle 20 degree. Row data of MS 3D-CTA was acquired by Multi-slice helical CT-Aquilion (Toshiba). The scanning parameters were: image slice thickness 1.0 mm, scan speed 0.5 s/r, helical pitch 3.5, delay time 15-18 sec. Nonionic contrast agent was injected intravenously (2.0 ml/kg) at the speed of 4.0-5.0 ml/s using a power injector. Source images of 3D TOF MRA and MS 3D-CTA were processed into MIP and fly-around using a workstation SGI-O2, with the post-processing software Alatoview (Ver: 1.42). Conventional four-vessel digital subtraction angiography was performed with Siemens Multi-Start OT. Results: 22 aneurysms were detected by both 3D TOF MRA and MS 3D-CTA (1 ACA aneurysm, 3 ACoMA aneurysms, 1 left MCA aneurysm, 2 ICA-cavernous aneurysms, 3 left ICA-PCoM aneurysms, 8 right ICA-PCoM aneurysms, 1 left ICA-AChA aneurysms, 2 right ICA-AChA aneurysms, and 1 superior pituitary artery aneurysm). Among those aneurysms, one was not detected by DSA, and another aneurysm's neck was not clear on the image of DSA. 1 right ICA-PCoM aneurysm was surgically treated according to 3D TOF MRA and MS 3D-CTA only. All of the 22 Aneurysms were detected by 3D TOF MRA fly-around, with the body's diameter ranging from 2.5 mm to 24 mm. Seven of those aneurysms were less than 4 mm in diameter (31.8%,7/22). Detecting rate of 3D TOF MRA was 100%. On images of 3D TOF MRA, aneurysm's body, neck, source vessel, and the relationship between the aneurysms and the surrounding structures were clearly and surely displayed. Conclusion: 3D TOF MRA fly-around should be a very effective procedure in diagnosing internal carotid artery aneurysms, especially in those who are close to the bony structures of the skull base and the cavernous sinus