• Jae W Song, Emmanuel C Obusez, Scott B Raymond, Samuel D Rafla, Pamela W Schaefer, and Javier M Romero.
• Division of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
• J Neuroimaging. 2019 Jul 1; 29 (4): 454-457.

Background And PurposeWe hypothesized that vessel wall MR imaging (VWI) with 3D-time-of-flight magnetic resonance imaging (3D-TOF-MRA) together increases the ability to detect abnormal intracranial vessel segments compared to 3D-TOF-MRA alone.MethodsNinety-three consecutive subjects with a clinical history of suspected vasculopathy imaged with both VWI and 3D-TOF-MRAs were retrospectively reviewed. The 3D-TOF-MRAs were reviewed by two independent neuroradiologists classifying arterial segments as normal or abnormal based on caliber changes. Following a 2-week wash-out period, the 3D-TOF-MRAs with VWI together were re-evaluated for caliber changes and/or vessel wall enhancement. A third neuroradiologist served as consensus. Significance was assessed by McNemar's test.ResultsForty-two subjects with VWI and 3D-TOF-MRAs met the inclusion criteria. By 3D-TOF-MRA alone, 12.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.7-15.1) of the arterial segments were identified as abnormal compared to 20.8% (95% CI, 18.2-23.4) by VWI and 3D-TOF-MRA together (P < .0001).Conclusions3D-TOF-MRA and VWI together identifies a higher number of abnormal vessel segments than 3D-TOF-MRA alone and may provide a more accurate assessment of disease burden.© 2019 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

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