MAGNETIC-RESONANCE ANGIOGRAPHY (MRA) OF RUPTURED CEREBRAL ANEURYSM

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the high resolution magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) as pre-operative angiography for the dete ction of ruptured cerebral aneurysms. MRA was performed on 1.5 tesla s ystem using the 3-dimensional time of flight (3D-TOF) method. The fiel d of view was 16 cm or 20 cm and matrix size was 192 x 256 or 256 x 51 2. Twenty patients with ruptured cerebral aneurysms and 35 cases of no n-ruptured aneurysms (incidental aneurysm) examined by both convention al angiography and MRA were included in this study. All the ruptured a neurysms were operated on based on the information obtained from conve ntional angiography and MRA. Aneurysms smaller than 3 mm in size were difficult to visualize on MRA. However, most ruptured aneurysms were c learly visualized because they were generally larger than 3 mm. The im age quality of MRA was satisfactory for planning surgery. Screening fo r non-ruptured cerebral aneurysms using MRA is controversial. However, in ruptured aneurysms larger than 3 mm in size, MRA clearly revealed the aneurysm, and MRA findings were informative enough to plan surgery . It is concluded that this non-invasive examination can be selected a s a first-choice examination especially in cases of ruptured aneurysm.