Magnetic Resonance Angiography Evaluation of Cerebral Blood Flow in the Transient Ischemic Attack

Objective To assess the cerebral blood flow of transient ischemic attack (TIA) patients and the effect of lesions of the feeding artery on the cerebral blood flow in TIA patients with cine phase contrast (PC) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), three dimensional time of flight (3D TOF) MRA and 3D contrast enhanced MRA(CE-MRA). Materials and Methods MRA was employed to study the cerebral blood flow and the feeding artery in 41 TIA patients, 30 healthy subjects and 30 cerebral infarction patients. Results There was no significant difference of the cerebral blood flow between 11 TIA patients without severe stenosis of cerebral arteries and 30 healthy subjects(P=0.101). There was no significant difference of the cerebral blood flow between 11 TIA patients with severe stenosis of the internal carotid artery (ICA) and/or the vertebral and basilar arteries (V-BA) and 18 cerebral infarction patients. The incidence of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA), middle cerebral artery (MCA), and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) stenosis or occlusion in 18 cerebral infarction patients was higher than that in 11 TIA patients severe stenosis of cerebral arteries(P=0.018). Conclusion There was no significant difference of the cerebral blood flow between the TIA patients without severe stenosis of cerebral arteries and healthy subjects. There was no significant difference of the cerebral blood flow between TIA patients with severe stenosis of cerebral arteries and cerebral infarction patients.