Abstract #1349

Multiparametric MRI Correlation with Tissue Outcome in Early Phase of Acute Ischemic Stroke in Rats

Kimmo Jokivarsi¹, Yrj Hiltunen², Risto Kauppinen³, Olli Grhn¹

¹Department of Neurobiology, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland; ²Department of Environmental Science, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland; ³Biomedical NMR Research Center, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH, USA

We investigated the prediction power of different combinations of MRI parameters in rat middle cerebral artery occlusion model. We show that by using three to four MRI contrasts (including diffusion, T2, T1r and perfusion) in combination, correlation ranging from 0.64 to 0.80 with the histological outcome is achieved. The correlation depends on brain region and age of lesion. Our data suggest that MRI may predict ischemic lesion expansion and fate of tissue at risk of stroke in a clinically useful manner.