Diagnostic Performance of High-Resolution Vessel Wall Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Digital Subtraction Angiography in Intracranial Vertebral Artery Dissection

Purpose: Intracranial vertebral artery dissection (VAD) is being increasingly recognized as a leading cause of Wallenberg syndrome and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Conventional angiography is considered the standard diagnostic modality, but the diagnosis of VAD remains challenging. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of high-resolution vessel wall imaging (HR-VWI) with digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for intracranial VAD. Materials and methods: Twenty-four patients with 27 VADs, who underwent both HR-VWI and DSA within 2 weeks, were consecutively enrolled in the study from March 2016 to September 2020. HR-VWI and DSA were performed to diagnose VAD and to categorize its angiographic features as either definite dissection or suspicious dissection. Features of HR-VWI were used to evaluate direct arterial wall imaging. The reference standard was set from the clinicoradiologic diagnosis. Two independent raters evaluated the angiographic features, dissection signs, and interrater agreement. Each subject was also dichotomized into two groups (suspicious or definite VAD) in each modality, and diagnosis from HR-VWI and DSA was compared with the final diagnosis by consensus. Results: HR-VWI had higher agreement (90.6% vs. 53.1%) with the final diagnosis and better interrater reliability (kappa value (kappa) = 0.91; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.64-1.00) compared with DSA (kappa = 0.58; 95% CI = 0.35-1.00). HR-VWI provided a more detailed identification of dissection signs (77.7% vs. 22.2%) and better reliability (kappa = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.58-1.00 vs. kappa = 0.75; 95% CI = 0.36-1.00), compared to DSA. HR-VWI was comparable to DSA for the depiction of angiographic features for VAD. Conclusions: HR-VWI may be useful to evaluate VAD, with better diagnostic confidence compared to DSA.