Biomedical Research

Objective: To evaluate the magnetic susceptibility of Cerebral Microbleeds (CMBs) in patients with Essential Hypertension (EH) by Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) sequence and to explore the application value of QSM sequence in CMBs of EH patients.

Materials and Methods: A total of 33 EH patients with CMBs were enrolled in this study. The routine scan and QSM sequence were performed using the 3.0T Discovery750 Superconducting Magnetic Resonance Scanner. The distribution of CMBs in the spatial space was analyzed statistically. The relationship between the magnetic susceptibility of CMBs and the baseline data of EH patients was analyzed.

Results: 178 CMBs were observed with QSM sequence, which was significantly more than those of the conventional sequences. The number of CMBs was the largest in the basal ganglia-thalamus region, followed by the cortical-subcortical region. The magnetic susceptibility of CMBs was in the range of 0.112-0.494 and the mean value was 0.267, which was statistically different between the risk stratification groups. The susceptibility of basal ganglia-thalamus lesion was associated with risk stratification, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, age and course of disease in EH patients. There was a positive correlation between the area of the QSM original image and the magnetic susceptibility value of the lesion in each region.

Conclusion: The QSM sequence can measure CMBs better than the conventional sequences. The CMBs of EH patients have the best incidence in the basal ganglia and the thalamus region, followed by the cortical-cortical area. The QSM sequence can provide favourable information for scientific studies and clinical applications in EH patients. And it can provide more imaging basis to understand the impact of hypertension on cerebral blood vessels and the occurrence of CMBs lesions, development, etc.

Author(s): Qiong Wu, Guang Yao Wu
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