Subacute cerebral infarct: native and contrast medium-enhanced MRT

Twenty-five patients with clinical and CT findings indicating supratentorial cerebral infarct were prospectively studied with MR. MR examinations were performed between the 3rd and 150th day after stroke. T2-weighted axial images were compared with T1-weighted sequences after i.v. administration of Gd-DTPA. T2-weighted images demonstrated parenchymal lesions in all 25 patients. Postcontrast T1-weighted images, however, displayed pathologic contrast enhancement in only 19 areas of infarction. In 5 of the 25 patients, the use of Gd-DTPA provided additional diagnostic information by demonstrating gyral contrast enhancement as a pattern typical for ischemia. In 2 of the 25 patients, pathologic contrast enhancement was observed in an area that was isointense to the surrounding brain tissue on the T2-weighted images. In one patient, Gd-DTPA improved differentiation between areas of subacute and chronic infarction. At present, in the patient with suspected cerebral infarction, MR imaging after i.v. administration of Gd-DTPA appears recommended when clinical findings and CT are equivocal.