Abstract #1596

Optimized Intracranial Vessel Wall Imaging Framework – First clinical results

Konstanze Viktoria Anna Valerie Guggenberger¹, Patrick Vogel¹, Nils Venhoff², Ute Ludwig³, Marc Schmalzing⁴, Esther Raithel⁵, Axel Joachim Krafft³, Thomas Ness⁶, Jost Hillenkamp⁷, Horst Urbach⁸, Stephan Meckel⁸, and Thorsten Bley¹

¹Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany, ²Clinic for Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ³Department of Radiology, Medical Physics, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ⁴Rheumatology/Clinical Immunology Department, Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany, ⁵Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany, ⁶University Eye Center, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany, ⁷Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany, ⁸Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

The extent of intracranial large artery involvement and its assessment is still part of on-going research. Our study group has developed a whole-brain T1-weighted dark blood CS-SPACE sequence suitable for intracranial vessel wall imaging in large-artery vasculitis combined with a dedicated post-processing tool. 53 patients were analyzed in a prospective blinded two university medical center trial. First clinical results demonstrate the technique`s suitability for clinical application. Mural thickening and contrast-enhancement as well as luminal changes are readily visible. However, certain confounders, especially atherosclerotic vessel wall lesions as well as vasa vasorum still propose major challenges for diagnosing intradural vasculitic affection.

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