Brain MRI in Patients with Low-Risk Neurovascular Presentations

Among patients with symptoms considered to indicate low risk for stroke, about one in eight has an acute MRI lesion, and 30% will have the diagnosis altered.

Some patients with “transient ischemic attacks” have a lesion on brain MRI with diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). A DWI lesion reclassifies these patients as having an ischemic stroke, even if symptoms last less than 24 hours. Moreover, patients with motor or speech symptoms lasting more than 10 minutes have a higher rate of subsequent stroke, but the true risk of “lower-risk” presentations is unclear. These authors investigated the utility of brain MRI in low-risk presentations. These included nonmotor or nonspeech symptoms of any duration or motor/speech symptoms ≤5 minutes. Brain MRI had to be completed within 8 days after symptom onset. The authors also investigated stroke risk in the year after the event.

The 1028 patients (median age, …

Reviewing Author

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBayer Pharmaceuticals; Novartis

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Editorial BoardsNeurology; Stroke

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBayer Pharmaceuticals; Novartis

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Editorial BoardsNeurology; Stroke

Brain MRI in Patients with Low-Risk Neurovascular Presentations

Topics

Reviewing Author