Magnetic resonance angiography evaluation of basilar artery stenosis in patients with vertebrobasilar insufficiency

To assess the usefulness of evaluating basilar arterial flow by magnetic re sonance angiography (MRA), MRA results for patients with vertebrobasilar in sufficiency (VBI) were compared with those for age-matched individuals with no vestibular disorders. The presence of stenosis in the basilar artery, i ts severity and the presence of complications associated with atheroscleros is in the two groups were statistically compared. Analyses revealed signifi cant differences in the incidence of stenosis, its severity, and the incide nce of complications between the two groups. These findings suggest that MR A is valuable for the estimation of vertebrobasilar hemodynamics. MRA evalu ation of basilar artery stenosis appears to be suitable for identifying a h igh-risk group among VBI patients, since basilar artery stenosis can result in serious disabilities.