CTA in diagnosis of intracranial arterial fenestration

Objective To observe the diagnostic value of CTA for intracranial arterial fenestration and the possible relationship with gender and aneurysms.Methods The image data of 1468 patients who underwent cerebral CTA examination were reviewed retrospectively.After conventional scanning,the VR and MIP images were reconstructed,and the vascular abnormalities of CTA were analyzed.The differences of the incidence of intracranial arterial fenestration between males and females,and in patients whether with aneurysm were compared.Results Of the 1468 patients who underwent cerebral CTA,intracranial arterial fenestrations were detected in 92 patients(92/1468,6.27%),including 1 patient of 4 window deformities and 4 patients of 2 window deformities.Ninety-nine window deformities were founded in 92 patients,including 47 lesions(47/99,47.48%) in basilar artery,21(21/99,21.21%) in anterior cerebral artery,14(14/99,14.14%) in anterior communicating artery,13(13/99,13.13%) in vertebral artery and 4(4/99,4.04%) in cerebral middle artery.Of 99 window deformities,35 were categorized as slit type,39 as convex type and 25 as calabash type.Besides,71 window deformities were symmetrical,and the rest 28 were asymmetrical.The difference of arterial fenestration incidence in male and female was not statistical(χ2=0.05,P0.05).Among 92 patients with arterial fenestrations,14(14/92,15.22%) associated with aneurysms,the incidence of aneurysm was not statistically different compared with patients without arterial fenestration(χ2=0.99,P0.05).Conclusion CTA can precisely demonstrate the location and morphology of intracranial arterial fenestration.No obvious relationship between fenestration and gender or aneurysm is found.