Multiphasic Perfusion Computed Tomography as a Predictor of Collateral Flow in Acute Ischemic Stroke: Comparison with Digital Subtraction Angiography

Background: Assessing collateral status is important in acute ischemic stroke. The purpose of this study was to compare multiphasic perfusion computed tomography (MPCT) with digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in predicting leptomeningeal collateral flow in acute middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction. Methods: Consecutive patients underwent MPCT and DSA for acute MCA infarction that presented within 6 h of symptom onset. We included patients who showed MCA occlusion in the same location on both modalities and assessed the agreement rate and correlation between the MPCT and DSA collateral grades. Results: Of 54 patients, 44 (81.5%) had proximal MCA (M1) occlusions and 10 (18.5%) had distal MCA (M2) occlusions based on MPCT and DSA. The kappa-coefficients were 0.87 and 0.81 in the MPCT and DSA collateral grade systems, respectively. Forty-four patients (81.5%) belonged to the same category in both collateral-grading systems. MPCT collateral grades correlated positively with those of DSA (Spearman's correlation coefficient 0.827, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our data show that MPCT can predict leptomeningeal collateral flow in acute ischemic stroke. Based on collateral status assessed by MPCT, different therapeutic approaches might be warranted. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel