Visualization of lenticulostriate arteries by flow-sensitive black-blood MR angiography on a 1.5 T MRI system: a comparative study between subjects with and without stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The branches of the LSA are the main causative arteries for lacunar infarction, though the vascular changes are largely unknown. Herein, we examined the correlation of LSA imaging findings in patients with lacunar infarction compared with controls by using FSBB-MRA. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fifteen patients (9 men, 6 women; mean age, 73 years) with infarction at the basal ganglia and/or its vicinity were prospectively enrolled, and 12 aged-matched control subjects (6 men, 6 women; mean age, 68 years) were examined by using FSBB-MRA on a 1.5T MR imaging system. Total number and length of visualized LSA branches were compared by a 2-tailed 2-sample t test. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking history, and diabetes mellitus after evaluation of their colinearity. P<.05 after correction for multiple comparisons was considered significant. RESULTS Patients with stroke had significantly fewer LSA branches (average, 6.3; 95% CI, 5.4-7.1) than controls (8.7; 95% CI, 7.8-9.5) (P=.0003). The total LSA lengths were 117 mm (95% CI, 96-138 mm) for patients with stroke and 162 mm (95% CI, 133-91 mm) for control subjects (P=.01). In stepwise multiple regression analysis, only the LSA branch numbers were significantly related to infarction (P=.0003), while only hypertension was significantly related to total LSA length (P=.0085). CONCLUSIONS Using FSBB-MRA to visualize LSA branches, we found a significant reduction in the numbers of LSA branches in patients with stroke, and hypertension was inversely related to total LSA length. FSBB is a promising method to investigate the LSA by using 1.5T MR imaging.