Uta Hanning1,2,3, Peter Bernhard Sporns4, Rene Schmidt5, Thomas Niederstadt4, Jens Minnerup6, Georg Bier7, Stefan Knecht8, André Kemmling9. 1. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Universal Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany. u.hanning@uke.de. 2. Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospital of Münster, Münster, Germany. u.hanning@uke.de. 3. Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany. u.hanning@uke.de. 4. Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospital of Münster, Münster, Germany. 5. Institute of Biostatistics and Clinical Research, University of Münster, Münster, Germany. 6. Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Münster, Münster, Germany. 7. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. 8. Department of Neurology, Mauritius Hospital and University Hospital of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany. 9. Institute of Neuroradiology, University Hospital of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The severity of white matter lesions (WML) is a risk factor of hemorrhage and predictor of clinical outcome after ischemic stroke; however, in contrast to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reliable quantification for this surrogate marker is limited for computed tomography (CT), the leading stroke imaging technique. We aimed to present and evaluate a CT-based automated rater-independent method for quantification of microangiopathic white matter changes. METHODS: Patients with suspected minor stroke (National Institutes of Health Stroke scale, NIHSS < 4) were screened for the analysis of non-contrast computerized tomography (NCCT) at admission and compared to follow-up MRI. The MRI-based WML volume and visual Fazekas scores were assessed as the gold standard reference. We employed a recently published probabilistic brain segmentation algorithm for CT images to determine the tissue-specific density of WM space. All voxel-wise densities were quantified in WM space and weighted according to partial probabilistic WM content. The resulting mean weighted density of WM space in NCCT, the surrogate of WML, was correlated with reference to MRI-based WML parameters. RESULTS: The process of CT-based tissue-specific segmentation was reliable in 79 cases with varying severity of microangiopathy. Voxel-wise weighted density within WM spaces showed a noticeable correlation (r = -0.65) with MRI-based WML volume. Particularly in patients with moderate or severe lesion load according to the visual Fazekas score the algorithm provided reliable prediction of MRI-based WML volume. CONCLUSION: Automated observer-independent quantification of voxel-wise WM density in CT significantly correlates with microangiopathic WM disease in gold standard MRI. This rapid surrogate of white matter lesion load in CT may support objective WML assessment and therapeutic decision-making during acute stroke triage.
PURPOSE: The severity of white matter lesions (WML) is a risk factor of hemorrhage and predictor of clinical outcome after ischemic stroke; however, in contrast to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reliable quantification for this surrogate marker is limited for computed tomography (CT), the leading stroke imaging technique. We aimed to present and evaluate a CT-based automated rater-independent method for quantification of microangiopathic white matter changes. METHODS:Patients with suspected minor stroke (National Institutes of Health Stroke scale, NIHSS < 4) were screened for the analysis of non-contrast computerized tomography (NCCT) at admission and compared to follow-up MRI. The MRI-based WML volume and visual Fazekas scores were assessed as the gold standard reference. We employed a recently published probabilistic brain segmentation algorithm for CT images to determine the tissue-specific density of WM space. All voxel-wise densities were quantified in WM space and weighted according to partial probabilistic WM content. The resulting mean weighted density of WM space in NCCT, the surrogate of WML, was correlated with reference to MRI-based WML parameters. RESULTS: The process of CT-based tissue-specific segmentation was reliable in 79 cases with varying severity of microangiopathy. Voxel-wise weighted density within WM spaces showed a noticeable correlation (r = -0.65) with MRI-based WML volume. Particularly in patients with moderate or severe lesion load according to the visual Fazekas score the algorithm provided reliable prediction of MRI-based WML volume. CONCLUSION: Automated observer-independent quantification of voxel-wise WM density in CT significantly correlates with microangiopathic WM disease in gold standard MRI. This rapid surrogate of white matter lesion load in CT may support objective WML assessment and therapeutic decision-making during acute stroke triage.
Entities:
Keywords:
Acute stroke; CT segmentation techniques; Cerebral small vessel disease; Leukoaraiosis; White matter lesions
Authors: Leon Lenchik; Laura Heacock; Ashley A Weaver; Robert D Boutin; Tessa S Cook; Jason Itri; Christopher G Filippi; Rao P Gullapalli; James Lee; Marianna Zagurovskaya; Tara Retson; Kendra Godwin; Joey Nicholson; Ponnada A Narayana Journal: Acad Radiol Date: 2019-08-10 Impact factor: 3.173
Authors: Aku L Kaipainen; Johanna Pitkänen; Fanni Haapalinna; Olli Jääskeläinen; Hanna Jokinen; Susanna Melkas; Timo Erkinjuntti; Ritva Vanninen; Anne M Koivisto; Jyrki Lötjönen; Juha Koikkalainen; Sanna-Kaisa Herukka; Valtteri Julkunen Journal: Neuroradiology Date: 2021-08-14 Impact factor: 2.804