MRI Beats CT for Acute Stroke Diagnosis - CME Teaching Brief- MedPage Today
BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 25 -- MRI is better than CT for detecting acute strokes of any kind, and should be the diagnostic imager of choice in the ER, according to NIH researchers.
Comparing the two modalities in patients with suspected acute stroke, the investigators found that the sensitivity of MRI for diagnosing acute strokes was 83%, compared with just 26% for CT performed on the same patients.
Action Points
* Explain to patients who ask that early diagnosis of acute stroke and differentiation between ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes is essential for preventing or reducing subsequently disability. This study suggests that MRI should be the imager of choice when emergency doctors suspect acute stroke.
MRI was also superior to CT at diagnosing acute hemorrhagic stroke and chronic stroke, and was comparable at detecting intracranial hemorrhage, reported Steven Warach, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and colleagues, in the Jan. 27 issue of The Lancet.
Posted by gruwell at January 29, 2007 04:53 AM | TrackBack