Utility of T2-weighted high-resolution vessel wall imaging for the diagnosis of isolated posterior inferior cerebellar artery dissection at acute and early subacute stages

Recent advances in magnetic resonance high-resolution vessel wall imaging (HRVWI), which can detect intramural hematomas (IMH), improve the noninvasive diagnostic accuracy of isolated posterior inferior cerebellar artery dissection (iPICA-D). However, despite the risk of overlooking minute IMH, the utility of T2-weighted HRVWI has not been thoroughly evaluated. This study aimed to compare the utility of T2-weighted HRVWI with that of T1-weighted HRVWI, basiparallel anatomical scanning (BPAS), and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) for the diagnosis of iPICA-D mainly in the acute and early subacute stages in 6 iPICA-D patients (three acute, two early subacute and one late subacute stages on initial examinations). Dissection-related abnormalities included IMH on T1-weighted HRVWI, aneurysmal dilations on T2-weighted HRVWI and discrepancy between BPAS and MRA. On initial examinations, T2-weighted HRVWI revealed iPICA-D-related abnormalities more conspicuously than did T1-weighted HRVWI and combination of BPAS and MRA. Except in a single case with a discrepancy between the outer contour on BPAS and inner contour on MRA, no specific abnormalities were detected besides T2-weighted HRVWI at acute or early subacute stages. In addition to T1-weighted HRVWI, BPAS and MRA, T2-weighted HRVWI should be performed to diagnose acute and early subacute iPICA-D.