Diagnostic Utility of MRI in Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) account for
at least 15% of strokes worldwide. There are many possible etiologies for spontaneous (i.e.
non-traumatic) ICH or IVH such as longstanding hypertension and cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

Other causes include vascular malformations, intracranial aneurysms, tumors, coagulopathies,
use of thrombolytic or antithrombotic drugs, cerebral venous thrombosis, hemorrhagic
transformation of an ischemic infarct, illicit drug use, endocarditis, and vasculitis.

Identification of the cause of an ICH or IVH typically relies on clinical evaluation
supported by computer tomography (CT) with or without conventional contrast cerebral
angiography in selected patients. While magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has substantially
improved our diagnostic capabilities, the appropriate use of MRI and its effectiveness has
not been studied systematically in these patients. Furthermore, it is unclear whether
routine MRI in ICH yields clinically relevant data. For this reason routine use or MRI in
patients with ICH is highly variable in clinical practice. Furthermore, it is unclear
whether the findings detected on MRI will change management decisions regarding further
diagnostic testing and therapeutic options above and beyond that which can be achieved by CT
and cerebral angiography.

This question has major ramifications for the care of patients with ICH or IVH. If MRI truly
can categorize patients into specific diagnostic categories better than CT, this would
represent a major paradigm shift in the way that these patients are typically evaluated. On
the other hand, because of the added expense of MRI, its general use could result in a
substantial increase in the cost of neurological care. These added costs must result in
improvements in patient management in order to justify the added financial resources
involved.

The overall aim of this project is to prospectively determine whether MRI can improve the
conventional neuroradiological evaluation (CT with or without cerebral angiography) of
patients with a spontaneous ICH or IVH. The study design will also allow us to identify the
added benefit of specific MR sequences and repeat MRI in the chronic stage, thereby allowing
us to prospectively determine their value in a consecutive series of patients. This
information should have a major impact on the management of these patients by providing data
on the diagnostic yield of routine MRI in patients presenting with a wide variety of causes
for ICH or IVH. These data will help guide the diagnostic evaluation and the management of
brain hemorrhage patients in the future. During this 5-year study, 160 consecutive
inpatients presenting with a spontaneous ICH or IVH within 48 hours of symptom onset will be
prospectively categorized into specific hemorrhage subtypes based upon the findings on MRI.
We will:

1. Prospectively assess the value of early MRI in determining hemorrhage etiology in
consecutive patients who present with a spontaneous ICH or IVH diagnosed by CT. We will
test the hypotheses that:

1. MRI will more frequently yield a correct specific hemorrhage etiology than
conventional non-contrast CT.

2. MRI will increase the certainty of a specific hemorrhage etiology when compared to
conventional non-contrast CT.

3. MRI will affect management in patients who present with a spontaneous ICH or IVH
diagnosed by CT.

4. The yield of MRI in patients with a spontaneous ICH or IVH varies among diagnostic
categories.

5. Routine use of MRI in patients with spontaneous ICH or IVH will reduce the need
for conventional (and invasive) cerebral angiography in these patients.

2. Prospectively assess the relative added value of an improved MR protocol (MRA/MRV, GRE,
DWI, TEDS, PROPELLER) in the evaluation and management of patients with ICH or IVH
determined by non-contrast CT.

We will test the hypotheses that:

a. MRI with multi-echo, multi-shot GRE sequences, MRA, MR venography (MRV), SENSE-DWI
and PROPELLER-DWI will more accurately assign patients into appropriate diagnostic
categories than conventional MRI (T1W, T1W post gadolinium, T2W [FSE/FLAIR FSE]) and
CT.

3. Prospectively identify the added benefit of repeated MRI in the chronic stage in the
evaluation and management of patients with ICH or IVH. We will test the hypotheses
that:

1. Repeat MRI in the chronic stage (at 60 days) will yield a specific ICH etiology
above and beyond early MRI and CT.

This information will contribute substantially to our understanding of the value of routine
MRI in patients with a spontaneous ICH or IVH both in the acute and in the chronic phase. It
will also allow us to develop practice guidelines for the use of MRI in these patients.

Inclusion Criteria:

A. Men and non-pregnant women, at least 18 years of age.

B. Patients with an ICH or IVH admitted to Stanford University Medical center within 48
hours of symptom onset.

C. Ability to undergo MRI.

Exclusion Criteria:

A. Patients with a known (preexisting) source for ICH, for example a known untreated
arterio-venous malformation.

B. Patients receiving investigational drug therapies or procedures prior to MRI scanning.

C. Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score < 6 in the absence of sedating medications.

D. Informed consent cannot be obtained either directly from the patient or from a legally
authorized representative.

E. Severe coexisting or terminal systemic disease that limits life expectancy or that may
interfere with the conduct of the study