Tobias Saam1, Clemens C. Cyran1, Katja Bochmann1, Olaf Dietrich2, Maximilian F. Reiser3, Konstantin Nikolaou4
1Institute of Clinical Radiology, LMU University Munich, Munich, Bavaria, Germany; 2Josef Lissner Laboratory for Biomedical Imaging, Dept. of Clinical Radiology, Josef Lissner Laboratory for Biomedical Imaging, Munich, Bavaria, Germany; 3Institute of Clinical Radiology, LMU University Munich,, Munich, Bavaria, Germany; 4Institute of Clinical Radiology,, LMU University Munich, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Primary arteritis of the central nervous system (CNS) is a heterogeneous group of CNS disorders which is characterized by nonatheromatous inflammation and necrosis of vessel walls. The clinical presentation is highly variable and the most common symptom is a stroke. Diagnosis is difficult and angiographic findings are often unspecific. Therefore brain biopsy is often needed to confirm the diagnosis. First experience in 10 subjects indicates that high-resolution contrast-enhanced, black-blood T1-weighted images with fat suppression of the cranial arteries might be useful to diagnose CNS arteritis. This information might help to avoid invasive procedures, such as conventional angiography or brain biopsies.
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