Evaluation of Middle Cerebral Artery Culprit Plaque Inflammation in Ischemic Stroke Using CAIPIRINHA-Dixon-TWIST Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Background: Middle cerebral artery (MCA) plaques are a leading cause of ischemic stroke (IS). Plaque inflammation is crucial for plaque stability and urgently needs quantitative detection.

Purpose: To explore the utility of Controlled Aliasing in Parallel Imaging Results in Higher Acceleration (CAIPIRINHA)-Dixon-Time-resolved angiography With Interleaved Stochastic Trajectories (TWIST) (CDT) dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) for evaluating MCA culprit plaque inflammation changes over stroke time and with diabetes mellitus (DM).

Study Type: Prospective.

Population: Ninety-four patients (51.6 ± 12.23 years, 32 females, 23 DM) with acute IS (AIS; N = 43) and non-acute IS (non-AIS; 14 days < stroke time ≤ 3 months; N = 51).

Field Strength/sequence: 3-T, CDT DCE-MRI and three-dimensional (3D) Sampling Perfection with Application optimized Contrast using different flip angle Evolution (3D-SPACE) T1-weighted imaging (T1WI).

Assessment: Stroke time (from initial IS symptoms to MRI) and DM were registered. For 94 MCA culprit plaques, K from CDT DCE-MRI and enhancement ratio (ER) from 3D-SPACE T1WI were compared between groups with and without AIS and DM.

Statistical Tests: Shapiro-Wilk test, Bland-Altman analysis, Passing and Bablok test, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-squared test, Fisher's exact test, receiver operating characteristics (ROC) with the area under the curve (AUC), DeLong's test, and Spearman rank correlation test with the P-value significance level of 0.05.

Results: K and ER of MCA culprit plaques were significantly higher in AIS than non-AIS patients (K = 0.098 s vs. 0.037 s; ER = 0.86 vs. 0.55). K showed better AUC for distinguishing AIS from non-AIS patients (0.87 vs. 0.75) and stronger negative correlation with stroke time than ER (r = -0.60 vs. -0.34). DM patients had significantly higher K and ER than non-DM patients in IS and AIS groups.

Data Conclusion: Imaging by CDT DCE-MRI may allow to quantitatively evaluate MCA culprit plaques over stroke time and DM.

Evidence Level: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.