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Comparative study of the relative signal intensity on DWI, FLAIR, and T2 images in identifying the onset time of stroke in an embolic canine model

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Abstract

In acute stroke magnetic resonance imaging, many attempts have been made to identify the onset time of ischemic events using the simply quantitative judgment of relative signal intensity (rSI) from various MR images. However, no uniform opinion has been achieved broadly till now. The controversy might derive from the potential patients’ selection bias of clinical retrospective study, the discrepant MR parameters, and the various sample sizes among different studies. Thus, we evaluated the temporal change of the relative DWI signal intensity (rDWI), relative ADC value (rADC), relative FLAIR signal intensity (rFLAIR), and relative T2 signal intensity (rT2), and further compare their diagnostic value in identifying the hyperacute lesions based on our embolic canine model with clear onset time. Twenty ischemic models were successfully established. All rSI values were linearly correlated to time with significance until 24 h after model establishment (P < 0.05). Paired comparison of ROC curves showed that significant difference was found between rADC and other three rSIs (P < 0.0001). However, no significant difference was found among rDWI, rT2 and rFLAIR. Our results indicated that rDWI, rFLAIR and rT2 may be helpful to predict the onset time of ischemic events with the similar diagnostic value. However, the rADC does not have comparable predictive value in our embolic canine model.

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Abbreviations

rSI:

Relative signal intensity

rDWI:

Relative DWI signal intensity

rFLAIR:

Relative FLAIR signal intensity

rT2:

Relative T2 signal intensity

rADC:

Relative ADC value

ECA:

External cerebral artery

ICA:

Internal cerebral artery

MCA:

Middle cerebral artery

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Acknowledgments

This research is founded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (30870710 to HB Shi, and 81000653 to S Liu).

Conflict of interest

None of the authors has identified a potential conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, China

    Xiao-quan Xu, Qi-guang Cheng, Shan-shan Lu, Jing Yu & Sheng Liu

  2. Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, China

    Qing-quan Zu, Ye Sheng, Hai-bin Shi & Sheng Liu

Authors
  1. Xiao-quan Xu
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  2. Qi-guang Cheng
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  3. Qing-quan Zu
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  4. Shan-shan Lu
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  5. Jing Yu
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  6. Ye Sheng
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  7. Hai-bin Shi
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  8. Sheng Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sheng Liu.

Additional information

X. Xu and Q. Cheng contributed equally to this paper.

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Xu, Xq., Cheng, Qg., Zu, Qq. et al. Comparative study of the relative signal intensity on DWI, FLAIR, and T2 images in identifying the onset time of stroke in an embolic canine model. Neurol Sci 35, 1059–1065 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-014-1643-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-014-1643-6

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