EXPERIENCE WITH DIFFUSION-WEIGHTED IMAGING IN AN ACUTE STROKE UNIT

We performed diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) on a standard 1.5-tesla MRI scanner using a high-speed stimulated echo pulse sequence (turboSTEAM) in 9 stroke patients and 9 control subjects to investigate whether th is technique can be used clinically to assist in ischaemic stroke diag nosis within the time frame for potential therapy. Stroke patients und erwent DWI between 3.75 h and 3 days after stroke onset. Three patient s were studied on mon than one occasion. DWI was normal in the 9 contr ols, Seven of 9 stroke patients showed areas of increased signal on DW I, DWI detected cerebral ischaemia 3.75 h after stroke onset when both CT and TO-Weighted MRI were normal, In 6 DWI-positive patients studie d at later times, increased signal on T2-weighted images was present a t the same time. Two patients had normal CT, T2-weighted and DWI image s; both made good neurological recoveries, For the routine assessment of stroke patients, DWI implemented on a standard MRI system can provi de additional information of clinical value to that obtained with conv entional pulse sequences. In particular it facilitates early detection of cerebral ischaemia during the first few hours after stroke.