MRI diagnosis of cerebral venous malformation

Objective To study MRI findings of cerebral venous malformation (CVM), and assess the value of each imaging sequence. Methods MRI and 3D-MRA scanning were performed in 7 patients with CVM comfirmed by DSA and operation. Results The lesion of 4 cases was located in cerebellum, and 3 cases in frontal or top cobe. MRI showed drain veins demonstrated hypointensity on T1WI and T2WI, while medullary veins showed hypointensity on T1WI and hyperintensity on T2WI. After enhancement, numerous radiating medullary veins gathered into one or two larger drain veins and flowed into superficial or deeper veins, demonstrating so-called“ edussa head” appearance. 3D-MOTSA MRA showed partial drain veins, the number of medullary was less. 3D-MOTSA CE MRA could showed the whole length of drain veins, the number of medullary veins were much. Conclusion MRI can not only diagnose the complications of CVM accurately, but also fetch up the deficiency of cerebral angiography. According to the above advantage, 3D-MOTSA CE MRA could replace cerebral angiography.