Clinical applications of MR digital subtraction angiography for the evaluation of intracranial vascular and tumorous lesions

MR digital subtraction angiography (MR DSA), which is performed by a rapid two-dimensional T1-weighted sequence in combination with bolus injection of gadolinium-based contrast agent was applied to the evaluation of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), brain tumors (intraaxial and extraaxial tumors), and other vascular lesions. This study was performed to evaluate the clinical usefulness of the method in the diagnosis of these lesions. We studied 19 cases of cerebral AVM, 36 cases of intraaxial tumor (metastatic brain tumors in 14, glioblastomas in five, astrocytomas in eight, malignant lymphomas in four, pineal tumors in two, and other tumors, in three), 34 cases of extraaxial tumor (meningiomas in 29, and pituitary adenomas in five), and 10 cases of other vascular lesions (cerebral aneurysms in five, venous thrombosis in two, and other lesion in three). For cerebral AVMs, the feeder, nidus, and drainer were evaluated on a 4 - point grading scale (0=poor, 1=fair, 2=good, 3=excellent), and the results obtained were compared with those of conventional cerebral angiography or MR angiography using the postcontrast three-dimensional time-of-flight method. Brain tumors were classified into six enhancement patterns, and were compared with the findings of conventional cerebral angiography. Other vascular lesions were assessed visually. All cases were evaluated independently by two radiologists, and inter-observer agreement was assessed using the κ-test. In all cerebral AVM cases, the hemodynamics of the feeder, nidus, and drainer could be observed. In all but five brain tumor cases, tumor stain could be confirmed in MR DSA images. The findings of tumor stain corresponded to those of cerebral angiographic images. For other vascular lesions, results of lesion detection and lesion morphology were almost in congruence with other methods. MR DSA provides information on the hemodynamics of vascular and tumorous lesions. When used in conjunction with routine MR imaging, MR DSA is a useful method that provides important diagnostic information with low invasiveness. (author)