Cerebral angiography in acute cerebral infarction

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Radiology
• Vascular Medicine

Background:

• Stroke syndromes require prompt and accurate diagnosis.
• Cerebral angiography is a key diagnostic tool for cerebrovascular diseases.
• Previous studies suggested limitations of angiography in acute stroke.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the diagnostic yield of cerebral angiography in the acute phase of clinically diagnosed stroke.
• To determine the correlation between angiographic findings and clinical deficits in acute stroke patients.
• To compare acute angiography results with prior reports on delayed angiography.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study of 104 consecutive patients with clinically diagnosed stroke syndromes.
• Cerebral angiography performed in the acute phase of stroke.
• Correlation of angiographic findings with documented retinal or cerebral hemispheric infarction.

Main Results:

• Angiography demonstrated occlusive lesions in 92.6% (63/68) of patients with confirmed infarction.
• These angiographic findings correlated with the clinical deficits observed.
• Results contrast with prior reports suggesting delayed angiography misses acute occlusive lesions.

Conclusions:

• Acute phase cerebral angiography has a high diagnostic yield in stroke syndromes.
• Early angiography effectively demonstrates occlusive lesions, including embolic ones.
• Timely carotid artery angiography is superior to delayed imaging for acute stroke evaluation.