Plaques in the descending aorta: A new risk factor for stroke? Visualization of potential embolization pathways by 4D MRI

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging Vol. 26; no. 6; pp. 1651 - 1655
• Main Authors: Harloff, Andreas, Strecker, Christoph, Frydrychowicz, Alex P., Dudler, Patrick, Hetzel, Andreas, Geibel, Annette, Kollum, Marc, Weiller, Cornelius, Hennig, Jürgen, Markl, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.12.2007
• Subjects: Aged; aorta; Aorta, Thoracic; Aortic Diseases - complications; Aortic Diseases - physiopathology; Atherosclerosis - complications; Atherosclerosis - physiopathology; Blood Flow Velocity; Cerebrovascular Circulation; Female; flow pattern; flow sensitive MRI; Humans; Image Enhancement - methods; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; phase contrast MRI; plaque; Risk Factors; stroke; Stroke - etiology; Stroke - physiopathology
• ISSN: 1053-1807; 1522-2586
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.21126

The combination of morphologic and hemodynamic information can help in assessing the risk of embolic stroke associated with thrombi and plaques in the descending aorta. For two acute stroke patients, the determination of individual embolic pathways using flow‐sensitive four‐dimensional (4D) MRI are reported. 3D visualization of local flow patterns, i.e., retrograde flow channels originating at the site of the atheroma, in conjunction with exact plaque localization, suggested potential embolization of high‐risk plaques in the descending aorta although they are located downstream from the supraaortic arteries. Our findings indicate that taking plaques of the descending aorta into consideration may help improve the spectrum of pathologies considered as high‐risk sources for brain ischemia. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.