Imaging Patterns of Recurrent Infarction in the Mechanisms of Early Recurrence in Intracranial Atherosclerotic...

Introduction: While much is known about recurrent clinical events in patients with intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD), there is limited data on characteristics of recurrent infarcts. Methods: The NIH-funded MyRIAD prospective, observational study was designed to identify mechanisms of ischemia and predictors of recurrence in ICAD. Recurrent infarction was assessed on MRI at 6-8 weeks. We reviewed the DWI/ADC and FLAIR sequences in patients with recurrent stroke and characterized the number of infarcts, infarct location, size, and patterns based on whether they were borderzone (BZ), perforator (SC/P), cortical or territorial (C/T), and mixed. Temporal characteristics were delineated by ADC/FLAIR correlation. Results: Of the 89 patients with 6-8 weeks MRI, 22 (24.7%) had recurrent infarcts in the territory of the symptomatic artery. Recurrent infarcts were evident on DWI in 63.6% and single infarcts in 54.5%. The median recurrent infarct volume was 2.0 cm³ compared to median index infarct volumes of 2.5 cm³. A mixed infarct pattern was most common (40.9%), followed by borderzone (22.7%), cortical or territorial (27.3%), while only 9.1% were in a perforator artery distribution. Amongst those with a mixed pattern, 8/9 had a borderzone distribution infarct as part of their mixed infarct pattern. Conclusion: These findings provide novel data on the characteristics of early recurrent infarcts in patients with symptomatic ICAD.