Variability of magnetic resonance angiography and computed tomography angiography in grading middle cerebral artery stenosis

Magnetic resonance angiography and computed tomography angiography are new, noninvasive methods to provide images of the cerebral vasculature. The reliability of magnetic resonance angiography and computed tomography angiography when used to grade middle cerebral artery stenosis remains to be established. We sought to study the interobserver and intraobserver variabilities of magnetic resonance angiography and computed tomography angiography in grading middle cerebral artery stenosis.

A total of 50 middle cerebral arteries in 25 patients were studied with magnetic resonance angiography and computed tomography angiography. All patients had a history of ischemic stroke. The films were read independently by two observers on separate occasions. Films were shown again to the same observer 4 weeks after the first reading. The degree of middle cerebral artery stenosis was categorized into four grades: normal/mild, moderate, severe, and occluded. The interobserver and intraobserver variabilities were calculated by the kappa statistic method.

Interobserver variability for grading middle cerebral artery stenosis was good (kappa = 0.78) for magnetic resonance angiography and moderate (kappa = 0.51) for computed tomography angiography. There was perfect agreement between two observers in 86% of the vessels shown in magnetic resonance angiography and in 76% of the vessels shown in computed tomography angiography. Intraobserver variability for both imaging methods was good, with the kappa value in the range of 0.70 to 0.76.

Our results suggest that according to our protocol, magnetic resonance angiography is more reliable than computed tomography angiography in grading middle cerebral artery stenosis.