Radiology, Vol 195, 35-40, Copyright © 1995 by Radiological Society of North America
Intracranial aneurysms: MR angiographic screening in 400 asymptomatic individuals with increased familial risk
A Ronkainen, MI Puranen, JA Hernesniemi, RL Vanninen, PL Partanen, JT Saari, PA Vainio and M Ryynanen
Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Kuopio, Finland.
PURPOSE: To evaluate the accuracy and limitations of magnetic resonance
(MR) angiographic screening for incidental intracranial aneurysms (IAs) in
healthy individuals with a family history of IA. MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Four hundred asymptomatic individuals in 68 families with a history of
aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage underwent MR angiography. Six families
also had a history of polycystic kidney disease. A multislab,
three-dimensional, time-of-flight sequence was used. Conventional
angiography was performed to confirm positive MR angiographic findings.
RESULTS: IAs were detected with MR angiography in 37 individuals, 32 of
whom underwent conventional angiography. Intraobserver consistency was
excellent (kappa = 0.96), and interobserver reproducibility was good to
excellent (kappa = 0.59- 0.82). Both techniques showed similar results in
the evaluation of size, localization, and orientation of aneurysms and
visibility of the aneurysm neck. CONCLUSION: MR angiography is an accurate
and feasible method of noninvasive screening for IAs in individuals at high
risk. Conventional angiography is still necessary before operative
treatment.
