Discrepancy in vessel tortuosity measurements of anterior circulation cerebral artery between digital subtraction angiography and magnetic resonance angiography.

Abstract

Objective: Tortuosity in blood vessels is a common angiographic feature that plays a crucial role in hemodynamics and is implicated in systemic diseases such as arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Although studies exist on the relationship between vessel tortuosity and intracranial aneurysms, standard imaging modalities and parameters representing vessel tortuosity are controversial. This study compared vessel tortuosity based on angle measurements using magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and digital subtraction angiography (DSA).

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 85 patients with 63 males (75.3%) with unruptured anterior circulation aneurysms between December 2021 and December 2022 was conducted using MRA and DSA. The vessel angles of several segments in the carotid siphon, internal carotid artery bifurcation, and the inflow angles to intracranial aneurysms were measured to evaluate the discrepancy between MRA and DSA.

Results: No significant difference was observed in vessel and inflow angles between MRA and DSA, except the internal carotid artery-middle cerebral artery (ICA-MCA) angle, which shows a significant difference (MRA; 50.26˚ (interquartile range (IQR), 33.49-70.57), DSA; 50.75˚ (IQR, 34.91-62.24), p-value=0.035).

Conclusions: We found a discrepancy between MRA and DSA in measuring the ICA-MCA angle. Further studies are required to address observed discrepancies between imaging modalities and improve the accuracy of hemodynamic analysis in clinical settings.