Abstract
We studied 2,448 patients (<70 years old) undergoing “Brain Dock” at Kurosawa hospital between July 1991 and August 1999. They were grouped in two based on MRI used: 615 patients examined by 0.5 Tesla MRI between July 1991 and December 1995, and 1,833 by 1.5 Tesla MRI between January 1996 and August 1999.
Results: 1) Cerebral ischemic changes were seen in 15.5％. Their risk factors were hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and hyperlipidemia. 2) A detection rate of suspected unruptured cerebral aneurysm rose from 2.1％ to 4.5％ using high-field MRI. 3) Unruptured cerebral aneurysms were found in 37 patients, primarily in the internal carotid cerebral artery (20) and the middle cerebral artery (13), but were rare in the anterior communicating artery (5). The 5−10 mm size aneurysm was recognized 19（48.7％）. ≤ 4mm size aneurysm was 19（48.7％）and ≥ 10mm size aneurysm was 1. 4) Twenty−one of 37 with cerebral aneurysms underwent surgery (neck clipping or coating) and all of them are now leading normal social lives without any neurological deficits. “Brain Dock” using high-field MR imaging thus shows promise in detecting unruptured cerebral aneurysms and preventing subarachnoid hemorrhage.
