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Diagnostic value of T2‐weighted imaging for the detection of superficial cranial artery inflammation in giant cell arteritis
Author(s) -
Geiger Julia,
Bley Thorsten,
Uhl Markus,
Frydrychowicz Alex,
Langer Mathias,
Markl Michael
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.22047
Subject(s) - giant cell arteritis , medicine , fast spin echo , radiology , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear medicine , vasculitis , pathology , disease
Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic value of T2‐weighted radial MR imaging for the detection of superficial cranial arteries' inflammatory involvement in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA). Materials and Methods: Forty‐three patients with suspected giant cell arteritis underwent 3 Tesla (T) high‐field MRI. T2‐weighted inversion recovery (IR) fast spin echo images with radial sampling (BLADE‐technique) were acquired and compared with postcontrast T1‐weighted spin echo images. Results: T2‐weighted images revealed mural edema in the superficial cranial arteries in 11 patients in concordance with severe inflammatory contrast enhancement in T1‐weighted images (grade 4 in a 4‐point ranking scale). Excellent correlation (r = 0.82; P < 0.001) of measured wall thickness in T1‐ and T2‐weighted images was achieved. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate the potential of radial T2 weighted imaging for a first detection of inflammatory changes in the small superficial cranial arteries without the need for contrast medium. Future studies are needed to evaluate the influence of spatial resolution of the T2 images and to improve the detection of moderate GCA related changes in vessel inflammation. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010; 31: 470–474. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.