Susceptibility-Weighted MR Imaging for Diagnosis of Capillary Telangiectasia of the Brain

BCT is a benign entity, whose appearance on conventional MR imaging makes its differentiation from neoplastic, inflammatory, or subacute ischemic disease challenging. SWI is sensitive to susceptibility effects from deoxyhemoglobin with excellent spatial resolution. Only scarce case reports have desc...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of neuroradiology : AJNR 2012-04, Vol.33 (4), p.715-720
Main Authors: EL-KOUSSY, M, SCHROTH, G, GRALLA, J, BREKENFELD, C, ANDRES, R. H, JUNG, S, SHAHIN, M. A, LOVBLAD, K. O, KIEFER, C, KOTTKE, R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Benign
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain - pathology
Case reports
Central Nervous System Vascular Malformations - pathology
Child
Computed tomography
Differentiation
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Inflammation
Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects)
Ischemia
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Nervous system
Neuroimaging
Personality. Affectivity
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Radiodiagnosis. Nmr imagery. Nmr spectrometry
Reproducibility of Results
Sensitivity and Specificity
Sexuality. Sexual behavior
spatial discrimination
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:BCT is a benign entity, whose appearance on conventional MR imaging makes its differentiation from neoplastic, inflammatory, or subacute ischemic disease challenging. SWI is sensitive to susceptibility effects from deoxyhemoglobin with excellent spatial resolution. Only scarce case reports have described the utility of SWI in cases of BCT. Our aim was to show the diagnostic value of SWI applied to a larger series of cases. This was an observational retrospective study of 33 BCTs in 27 consecutive patients examined from August 2009 to January 2011 with MR imaging, including SWI. Morphology, signal intensity characteristics, and additional vascular malformations were analyzed. Preceding or follow-up examinations were available in 18 patients with a median time interval of 14.5 months (range, 2-115 months). Twenty-five pontine and 8 supratentorial BCTs demonstrated distinct signal-intensity loss on SWI in combination with postcontrast enhancement. Mean lesion diameter was 4.9 mm (range, 1.5-17 mm). Thirty-nine percent showed slight signal-intensity changes on T1 and/or T2; the remainder were isointense to normal brain. In 30%, a prominent draining vessel was observed. Additional cerebral vascular malformations were found in 5 patients. SWI represents a valuable tool for confirmation of presumed BCT. Demonstration of signal-intensity loss on SWI in an enhancing focal brain lesion, otherwise unremarkable on conventional MR images, is highly specific for BCT, thus excluding serious pathology and reassuring the patient and referring physician. This is particularly helpful for BCT in less typical locations.
ISSN:0195-6108
1936-959X
DOI:10.3174/ajnr.A2893