Relationship between preoperative magnetic resonance imaging and surgical findings: aneurysm wall thickness on high-resolution T1-weighted imaging and contact with surrounding tissue on steady-state free precession imaging.

This study evaluated the aneurysm wall thickness by high-resolution T1-weighted imaging and the contact between the aneurysm and surrounding tissue by steady-state free precession (SSFP) imaging. The surgical findings were prospectively compared with these preoperative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging findings in 35 consecutive patients with 37 unruptured cerebral aneurysms (UCAs). The aneurysm wall was not visible in 13 UCAs, but was visible in 23. Subarachnoid space between the aneurysm and surrounding tissue was visible in 16 UCAs, a visible layer of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) between the aneurysm and surrounding tissue in 12, and no visible layer in 7. MR imaging predicted the surgical findings in 29 UCAs (78%), showed different findings in six UCAs (16%), and two (5%) could not be evaluated due to insufficient quality of preoperative MR images. Among the UCAs with different findings, five UCAs had a partially thin wall even though high-resolution T1-weighted imaging had shown a visible wall, and one UCA showed less contact with the surrounding tissue even though the SSFP imaging had shown no visible CSF layer. In conclusion, high-resolution T1-weighted imaging and SSFP imaging provided significant additional preoperative information regarding UCAs and the surrounding tissue.