Vessel wall MRI evaluation for the safety of endovascular recanalization of non-acute intracranial anterior circulation artery occlusions.

Background: Vessel wall MRI (VWMRI) can reveal the morphological features of intracranial artery occlusion (ICAO). This study aimed to investigate the imaging features of ICAO on VWMRI and explore their correlation with perioperative complications of endovascular recanalization for non-acute ICAO.

Methods: The study retrospectively included consecutive patients with recurrent ischemic stroke due to non-acute ICAO in the anterior circulation who underwent preoperative VWMRI evaluation and endovascular recanalization. Perioperative complications included ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes within 30 days after operation. Imaging features of the occluded segments were evaluated on precontrast and post-contrast VWMRI, including occlusion length and site, vessel wall area, signal intensity, angle, and shape of the occluded segment. The associations between the clinical and imaging features and perioperative complications were examined.

Results: One hundred and four patients were included in the analysis, of whom 22.1% (23/104) had perioperative complications. After adjusting for multiple confounding variables, four imaging risk factors were identified that were independently associated with perioperative complications, that is, the angle between the occluded and pre-occluded artery segments (OR 11.60, 95% CI 2.73 to 49.29), occluded artery segment shape (OR 13.07, 95% CI 2.82 to 60.67), vessel wall collapse before occlusion (OR 2.91, 95% CI 0.96 to 8.77), and post-contrast mean signal intensity ratio at the ¼ point of the occluded artery segment <1.24 (OR 6.14, 95% CI 1.67 to 22.51). From no risk factors to four risk factors, the incidence of perioperative complications gradually increased (0, 6.2%, 23.5%, 52.9%, and 100% respectively; p<0.001).

Conclusions: VWMRI may be helpful to select patients with non-acute ICAO who are suitable for endovascular recanalization.