A review of intracranial aneurysm imaging modalities, from CT to state-of-the-art MR

ABSTRACT

Traditional guidance for intracranial aneurysm (IA) management is dichotomized by rupture status. Fundamental to ruptured aneurysm management is the detection and treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage, along with securing the aneurysm by the safest technique. On the other hand, unruptured aneurysms first require a careful assessment of natural history versus treatment risk, including an imaging assessment of aneurysm size, location, and morphology, along with additional evidence-based risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, and family history. Unfortunately, a large proportion of ruptured aneurysms are in the lower risk size category (<7mm), putting a premium on discovering a more refined non-invasive biomarker to detect and stratify aneurysm instability prior to rupture. In this review of aneurysm work-up, we cover the gamut of established imaging modalities (e.g., CT, CTA, DSA, FLAIR, 3D-TOF-MRA, CE-MRA) as well as more novel MR techniques (MR-VWI, DCE-MRI, CFD). Additionally, we evaluate the current landscape of AI software and their integration into diagnostic and risk stratification pipelines for IAs. These advanced MR techniques, increasingly complemented with AI models, offer a paradigm shift by evaluating factors beyond size and morphology, including vessel wall inflammation, permeability, and hemodynamics. Additionally, we provide our institution’s scan parameters for many of these modalities as reference. Ultimately, this review provides an organized, up-to-date summary on the array of available modalities/sequences for IA imaging to help build protocols focused on IA characterization.

ABBREVIATIONS: IA = intracranial aneurysm; LP = lumbar puncture; UIA = unruptured intracranial aneurysm; VWI = vessel wall imaging; 3DRA = 3D Rotational Angiography.