J Korean Soc Emerg Med.  2004 Feb;15(1):8-13.

Efficacy of Diffusion-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Emergency Department to an Intracerebral Hemorrhage

• Park JS
• You YH
• Park SS
• Park JK
• Kim H
• Chung SP
• Kim SW
• Yoo IS

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was designed to evaluate whether diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) showed characteristic features in patients with an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), as well as a cerebral infarction, and whether the volume of hemorrhage was measured accurately on the DWI. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Patients with an ICH who underwent DWI and computed tomography (CT) were enrolled in this study. The DWI findings were categorized as follows: type A (lesions with a mixed-signal intense core), type B (lesions with a low-signal intense core), and type C (otherlesions). The time interval between symptom onset and DWI was compared among types of DWI findings. We compared the volumes of the hematomas between CT and DWI.
RESULTS
Thirty-seven patients were classified as type A (27 cases), type B (9), and type C (1). The average time interval was significantly different between type A and type B (4.97 vs 41.89 hrs). The differences between the measured mean volumes of the hemorrhages between CT and DWI were not statistically different (12.7 vs 12.4 ml)
CONCLUSION
This study suggested that DWI could differentiate ICH from ischemic stroke and could accurately measure the hemorrhagic volume, as well. Thus, it can be used as a primary diagnostic tool of stroke in the emergency department.

Keyword

Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging; Intracranial hemorrhage; Cerebral infarction

MeSH Terms

Cerebral Hemorrhage*
Cerebral Infarction
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Emergencies*
Emergency Service, Hospital*
Hematoma
Hemorrhage
Humans
Intracranial Hemorrhages
Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
Stroke