Imaging features of vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia combined with posterior circulation ischemic stroke: A vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging study

To elucidate the vessel wall changes of vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD) with ischemic stroke, using vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging (VW-MRI).Thirty-four patients with VBD (22 with stroke and 12 without stroke) who underwent VW-MRI were recruited. Forty-one patients without VBD who underwent VW-MRI were also recruited if they had a recent stroke due to atherosclerosis in the basilar artery or the intracranial vertebral artery. The vessel wall features of VBD were compared between stroke and non-stroke groups. The plaque characteristics were compared between VBD and non-VBD stroke patients.The frequency of plaques was higher (54.5% vs. 8.3%, P = 0.011) in VBD patients with stroke than that in non-stroke patients, while the frequencies of aneurysm, dissection, intraluminal thrombus, and diffuse/concentric wall enhancement did not differ. When the plaque features were compared between plaque-positive stroke patients with and without VBD, the degree of stenosis (31.0% ± 26.8% vs. 71.5% ± 19.0%, P < 0.001), normalized wall index (NWI) (0.7 ± 0.1 vs. 0.9 ± 0.1, P < 0.001), and remodeling index (RI) (1.0 ± 0.4 vs. 1.3 ± 0.4, P = 0.023) were lower in the VBD group, while intraplaque hemorrhage, and enhancement ratio showed no difference.This preliminary study suggests that atherosclerosis may be an important cause of stroke in VBD patients. Symptomatic plaques in VBD patients have a lower degree of stenosis, NWI, and RI than that in non-VBD patients. VW-MRI may help to assess stroke mechanisms and identify VBD patients at high risk.