MR susceptibility weighted imaging in the diagnosis of cerebral micro-bleeding in patients with stroke

Objective To study the difference of the incidence of cerebral micro-bleeding(CMBs)in patients with stroke and the normal controls using MR susceptibility weighted imaging(SWI),and to analyze the relationship between CMBs and severity of lacunar infarction and cerebral white matter changes.Methods Conventional MR sequences and SWI were performed in 28 patients with ischemic stroke,19 patients with cerebral hemorrhage and 26 cases of control group.The frequency,location,number of CMBs and stroke location,leukoaraiosis of patients were recorded.The severity of CMBs was classified as absent,mild,moderate and severe.All data were statistically analyzed by using SPSS 13.0.Results The incidence of CMBs in cerebral hemorrhage group,cerebral infarction group and control group was 63.2%,32.1%and 7.7%respectively.The most common locations of CMBs were deep location of cerebral,followed by cortico-subcortical region,and infratentorial.There was significant correlation between the presence of CMBs and the severity of lacunar infarction and the severity of white matter lesions(P 0.01).Conclusions CMBs are closely related with cerebral microangiopathy and occur frequently in patients with stroke.SWI sequence has a marked advantage on detection of CMBs.