The diagnostic value of susceptibility-weighted imaging for ischemic penumbra in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND The ischemia penumbra area is not easy to be detected accurately using noninvasive imaging methods. OBJECTIVE We aim to assess the diagnostic value of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) for ischemic penumbra in patients with acute ischemic stroke. METHODS A retrospective analysis was carried out in 47 patients with ischemic stroke involving the middle cerebral artery. Mean transit time (MTT), time to peak, relative cerebral blood flow, and relative cerebral blood volume maps were created after image processing. RESULTS No significant difference was found in the mismatch between the SWI and diffusion-weighted imaging (SWI-DWI) or in the MTT-DWI mismatch scores (P= 0.056, Kappa = 0.864). CONCLUSIONS SWI provides information comparable to PWI and, thus, could serve as a reliable magnetic resonance technique for assessing ischemic penumbrae.