Anita A. Harteveld1, Anja G. van der Kolk1, H. Bart van der Worp2, Nikki Dieleman1, Jeroen C.W. Siero1, Hugo J. Kuijf3, Catharina J.M. Frijns2, Peter R. Luijten1, Jaco J.M. Zwanenburg1,3, and Jeroen Hendrikse1
1Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, 2Neurology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, 3Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
In recent years, multiple
intracranial vessel wall MRI sequences have been developed for direct
evaluation of the intracranial vessel wall and its pathology in vivo. These studies have mainly been
performed on 3T and 7T field strengths. In the current study, we compared 3T
and 7T MRI for visualizing both healthy intracranial arterial vessel wall as
well as possible vessel wall lesions. Vessel wall visibility was significantly
better at 7T even though there were more artefacts hampering assessment. Overall,
more lesions were scored on 7T images; however – surprisingly – only half of
all 3T lesions were seen at 7T.
