Multiple brain infarcts: clinical and neuroimaging patterns using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Radiology
• Neurology

Background:

• Conventional MRI has limitations in identifying very early ischemic brain injury.
• Distinguishing acute from old infarcts is crucial, especially in patients with multiple brain infarcts (MBI).
• Diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI offers enhanced sensitivity for early ischemic changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of DW MRI in detecting acute infarcts in patients with MBI.
• To compare the diagnostic performance of DW MRI with conventional MRI sequences.
• To assess the utility of DW MRI for clinicotopographic correlation in stroke patients.

Main Methods:

• Study included 43 patients with MBI and acute stroke symptoms.
• Conventional MRI (T1-WI, T2-WI, contrast-enhanced T1-WI) and DW MRI were performed.
• DW MRI examinations were conducted within 15 days of stroke onset.

Main Results:

• DW MRI detected acute infarcts in all patients, often with a different signal pattern than T2-WI.
• DW MRI facilitated precise clinicotopographic correlations in 79% of patients.
• DW MRI provided additional clinically relevant findings in 72% of patients; contrast-enhanced MRI was helpful in only 11.6%.

Conclusions:

• DW MRI is a valuable addition to conventional MRI for distinguishing acute from old infarcts.
• DW MRI effectively identifies acute multiple lesions, improving clinicotopographic correlation.
• The integration of DW MRI enhances patient care by providing more accurate diagnostic information.