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Diagnosis of acute brain-stem infarcts using diffusion-weighed MRI

  • Diagnostic Neuroradiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

There are many reports on acute cerebral infarcts diagnosed by diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI), but few describe brain-stem infarcts diagnosed by this method. Using the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), we studied 18 consecutive patients with brain-stem infarcts who underwent DWI during the acute phase. We calculated and compared the ADC ratio (lesion ADC/contralateral ADC) in 10 patients with brain-stem and 23 with supratentorial cortical infarcts examined within 24 h of the onset of stroke. Ischaemic brain-stem lesions were detected in all 15 patients who underwent DWI more than 3h after the onset, but not in two who had DWI within 3 h of the onset; their ADC ratio was more than 0.95. ADC ratios in patients with brain-stem infarcts decreased as the interval between onset and DWI increased; the decrease was slower than in patients with supratentorial cortical infarcts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, The University of Tokushima, 3-18-15 Kuramotocho, Tokushima, Japan 770-8503

    H. Toi, M. Uno, S. Matsubara, K. Satoh & S. Nagahiro

  2. Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, The University of Tokushima, 3-18-15 Kuramotocho, Tokushima, Japan 770-8503

    M. Harada, K. Yoneda & N. Morita

Authors
  1. H. Toi
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  2. M. Uno
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  3. M. Harada
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  4. K. Yoneda
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  5. N. Morita
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  6. S. Matsubara
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  7. K. Satoh
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  8. S. Nagahiro
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Correspondence to M. Uno.

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Toi, H., Uno, M., Harada, M. et al. Diagnosis of acute brain-stem infarcts using diffusion-weighed MRI. Neuroradiology 45, 352–356 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-002-0897-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-002-0897-5

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