Serial magnet resonance angiography in patients with vasculitis and vasculitis-like angiopathy of the central nervous system.

The purpose of the study was to examine the value of the non-invasive magnet resonance angiography (MRA) in the follow-up of cerebral vasculitis (CV) and vasculitis-like angiopathy. We performed follow-up MRA (TOF 3D), MRI and transcranial doppler ultrasound (TCD) in the patients with isolated angiitis of the CNS (2/6), Crohn-disease-associated CV (1/6), and reversible arterial vasoconstriction (RAV) of the CNS (1 migraine, 1 eclampsia and 1 toxic encephalopathy) (3/6). In all patients with RAV MRA showed a complete remission of the vascular alterations after treatment. In the patients with isolated angiitis of the CNS and Crohn-disease-associated CV, partly regressive and partly progressive changes were demonstrated. The MR-angiographically detectable vascular alterations corresponded to the clinical course of the disease, as well as to TCD in all our patients. Success of therapeutic procedures, the need and the intensity of further drug administration could be estimated. The MRA appears to be a valuable non-invasive method in the follow-up of patients with CV and RAV.