• Josa M Frischer, Sabine Göd, Andreas Gruber, Walter Saringer, Günther Grabner, Brigitte Gatterbauer, Klaus Kitz, Sabrina Holzer, Claudia Kronnerwetter, Johannes A Hainfellner, Engelbert Knosp, and Siegfried Trattnig.
• Medical University Vienna, Department of Neurosurgery, Vienna, Austria.
• Neuroimage Clin. 2012 Jan 1; 1 (1): 116-20.

Background And AimIn the diagnosis of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) magnetic resonance imaging is established as the gold standard. Conventional MRI techniques have their drawbacks in the diagnosis of CCMs and associated venous malformations (DVAs). The aim of our study was to evaluate susceptibility weighted imaging SWI for the detection of CCM and associated DVAs at 7 T in comparison with 3 T.Patients And Methods24 patients (14 female, 10 male; median age: 38.3 y (21.1 y-69.1 y) were included in the study. Patients enrolled in the study received a 3 T and a 7 T MRI on the same day. The following sequences were applied on both field strengths: a T1 weighted 3D GRE sequence (MP-RAGE) and a SWI sequence. After obtaining the study MRIs, eleven patients underwent surgery and 13 patients were followed conservatively or were treated radio-surgically.ResultsPatients initially presented with haemorrhage (n = 4, 16.7%), seizures (n = 2, 8.3%) or other neurology (n = 18, 75.0%). For surgical resected lesions histopathological findings verified the diagnosis of CCMs. A significantly higher number of CCMs was diagnosed at 7 T SWI sequences compared with 3 T SWI (p < 0.05). Additionally diagnosed lesions on 7 T MRI were significantly smaller compared to the initial lesions on 3 T MRIs (p < 0.001). Further, more associated DVAs were diagnosed at 7 T MRI compared to 3 T MRI.ConclusionSWI sequences at ultra-high-field MRI improve the diagnosis of CCMs and associated DVAs and therefore add important pre-operative information.

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