Tissue perfusion of the kurtosis/diffusion mismatch differs from the central core and peripheral regions in acute...

Despite its wide adoption in stroke imaging, the diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) lesion is heterogeneous. The emerging diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) has been postulated to resolve the graded DWI lesion.

To determine the perfusion characteristics of the central infarction core, kurtosis/diffusion mismatch, and peripheral regions.

Patients with acute ischemic stroke underwent DWI, DKI, and perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) scans. The patients were divided into mean kurtosis (MK)/mean diffusivity (MD) match and mismatch groups. Perfusion parameters were measured in the MK/MD lesion and peripheral areas in the MK/MD match group. We also analyzed perfusion status in the MK/MD lesion mismatch area for the mismatch group.

A total of 40 eligible patients (24 MK/MD match and 16 MK/MD mismatch) were enrolled in the final data analysis. The MTT and TTP progressively decreased, while the cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral blood volume (CBV) increased from the central to peripheral areas. In addition, CBF in the MK/MD mismatch region was significantly higher than that in the central region (P < 0.05), but similar to the peripheral region. Furthermore, CBV in the MK/MD mismatch region did not differ significantly from that of the central region, but both were significantly lower than that of the peripheral area (P < 0.05).

The MK/MD mismatch region had blood flow similar to the peripheral region but with a reduced blood volume, indicating that it was less ischemic from the infarction core, albeit insufficient collateral circulation.