Preoperative and postoperative MRA

Abstract

Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) has opened the door to noninvasive evaluation of the intracranial major arteries. The contemporary MRA can clearly disclose the major intracranial arteries and has become an indispensable modality for the management of cerebrovascular stroke. Based on this dramatic technical evolution, since 1994 new diagnostic guidelines for moyamoya disease have included good MRA as the definitive diagnostic technique for moyamoya disease [1-4]. Nowadays, MRA can be an alternative to conventional angiography in moyamoya disease, and has been acknowledged as a reliable diagnostic tool with high sensitivity and specificity as a result of the remarkable development of MR imaging technology [5-13]. Moreover, MRA is useful not only for the diagnosis but also for follow-up of moyamoya disease in a noninvasive way. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Tokyo.