Selective Criteria of Diagnostic Modalities in Acute Stroke

Diffusion weighted MRI (DWI) scans are very sensitive and specific for the detection of hyperacute and acute infarctions, having a sensitivity of 88%-100% and a specificity of 86%-100%. However, they have certain limitations such as in severely ill patients, artifacts or sometimes unavailability in an emergency. In the current era of thrombo-lytic therapy, rapid identification of the presence and extent of ischemia is essential. Hence, exploitation of CT perfusion can be helpful in such cases. Aim: To identify proper modality in cases of acute stroke in order to set selective criteria for each modality. Results: Showed that both CT perfusion and MRI diffusions are usually complementary to each others as regards identification of the stroke. Conclusion: We can suggest a simple algorithm to choose the proper modality for each patient.