Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 11, 2026
Combined Near-infrared Fluorescent Imaging and Micro-computed Tomography for Directly Visualizing Cerebral Thromboemboli
Published on: September 25, 2016
Parenchymal FLAIR hyperintensity before thrombolysis is a prognostic factor of ischemic stroke outcome at 3 Tesla
Samuel Emeriau1, Sébastien Soize1, Laurence Riffaud1
1Department of neuroradiology, hôpital Maison-Blanche, CHU de Reims, Reims university, 45, rue Cognacq-Jay, 51092 Reims cedex, France.
Background:
The goal of the present study was to determine whether the presence or absence of parenchymal FLAIR hyperintensity alone, before thrombolysis, might be a predictive factor of ischemic stroke outcomes after the acute phase of stroke and at 3 months.
Materials And Methods:
We retrospectively included 84 patients with an ischemic stroke between November 2007 and March 2012, who underwent 3T MRI, were treated by thrombolysis, and had medical follow-up at 3 months. Two readers analyzed parenchymal FLAIR visibility. Logistic regressions were performed for NIHSS difference (NIHSS at admission - NIHSS at the end of hospitalization) and for 3 months modified Ranking Score (mRS). Predictive values of positive parenchymal FLAIR for identifying poor outcome at discharge and at 3 months were estimated.
Results:
Parenchymal FLAIR positivity was not predictive of NIHSS difference but it predicted poor outcome at 3 months (sensitivity: 0.49 [0.37-0.60], specificity: 0.69 [0.46-0.91], positive predictive value: 0.87 [0.76-0.98] and negative predictive value: 0.24 [0.12-0.36]).
Conclusions:
At 3 Tesla, the presence of a parenchymal hyperintense FLAIR signal before thrombolysis is predictive of a poor clinical outcome at 3 months.
