Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging identifies the "clinically relevant" small-penetrator infarcts

Most patients initially seen with a clinical syndrome consistent with a small-penetrator infarct (SPI) also harbor multiple, chronic, hyperintense, white matter lesions on conventional magentic resonance imaging (ie, T2-weighted image [T2WI] and fluid-attenuation inversion recovery [FLAIR] imaging). Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can identify the clinically relevant "index infarction" in such circumstances, since it differentiates between acute and chronic lesions.

To determine the clinical and radiological predictors associated with misidentification of an SPI as acute using T2WI and FLAIR images in patients with an acute SPI seen on DWI.

Sixty-seven consecutive patients who had an SPI.

Two independent examiners, provided with brief clinical information, but blinded to DWI findings, sought a clinically appropriate lesion on T2WI and FLAIR imaging in 67 consecutive patients found to have an SPI seen on DWI.

The index infarction based on evaluation of T2WI or FLAIR images was in a different location than the acute lesion as identified by DWI in 9 (13%) and 11 (16%) of 67 patients, respectively. Both T2WI and FLAIR imaging were rated normal in another 9% of the patients. Multivariate analysis showed that small lesion size (<10 mm) was the only predictor of misidentifying the clinically appropriate lesion on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (P<.01).

T2-weighted imaging and FLAIR imaging fail to identify the clinically relevant SPI in almost one quarter of the patients found to have a lesion on DWI. The characteristics of DWI make it well suited for the detection of acute small infarcts. Diffusion-weighted imaging is necessary to consistently define the clinical-anatomical relations in patients initially seen with SPIs.