Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging in patients with cerebral infarction

To evaluate the role of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the diagnosis of cerebral infarction, a retrospective analysis was made for 67 MR scans in 52 patients with cerebral infarction. At 6 hours after the onset of disease, abnormal findings, which were missed on computed tomography (CT), were detected using inversion-recovery and spin-echo techniques. Magnetic resonance imaging was far superior to CT in detecting lacunar infarction and obstruction of the vertebral and basilar arteries, especially lesions in the posterior fossa. Magnetic resonance imaging is, however, considered unhelpful in case of emergency because it requires much longer time than CT for examination. The limitations of MR imaging and CT may be mutually compensated for each other. (Namekawa, K.)