MRI-based Quantitative Collateral Assessment in Acute Stroke : A Comparison with Single-phase CTA in Drip-and-ship...

In acute ischemic stroke with large-vessel occlusion (LVO), collateral assessment with single-phase computed tomography angiography (CTA) might underestimate pial collateral supply in a considerable proportion of patients. We aimed to compare time-resolved magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based quantitative collateral mapping to conventional collateral imaging with CTA.

This retrospective single-center study covering a period of 6 years (2012-2018) included drip-and-ship LVO patients who underwent MR imaging after initial imaging evaluation with CT. For MRI-based collateral assessment, T2*-weighted time series from perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) were processed to compute a quantitative collateral vessel index (CVI_PWI) based on the magnitude of signal variance across the entire acquisition time. CTA-based collateral scores (Tan and Maas) and CVI_PWI were investigated in terms of inter-modality associations between collateral measures, as well as their relationships with stroke severity, infarct volume and early functional outcome.

The final analysis included n = 56 patients (n = 31 female, mean age 69.9 ± 14.21 years). No significant relationship was found between MR-based quantitative collateral supply (CVI_PWI) and CT-based collateral scores (r = -0.00057, p = 0.502 and r = -0.124, p = 0.797). In contrast to CVI_PWI, CTA-based collateral scores showed no significant relationship with clinical stroke severity and infarct volume. While MR-based CVI_PWI was independently associated with favorable early functional outcome in multivariate analysis (OR 1.075, 95% CI 1.001-1.153, p = 0.046), CTA-based collateral scores were not significantly associated with outcome.

Since collateral scores based on single-phase CTA do not accurately reflect infarct progression and might underestimate pial collateralization in a relevant proportion of patients, they are not associated with early functional outcome in LVO patients. In contrast, CVI_PWI represents a robust imaging parameter of collateral supply and is independently associated with functional outcome.