BACKGROUND The relationship between intracranial vessel configuration and wall features remains poorly investigated. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship between the distal and proximal anatomical configuration of basilar artery (BA) and BA vessel wall features on high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI). METHODS From September 2014 to January 2017, patients with suspected symptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis underwent HRMRI. Patients with severe BA stenosis were selected for this prospective study and divided into two groups corresponding to complete and incomplete BA configuration based on characteristics of the bilateral vertebral arteries and posterior cerebral arteries. Culprit blood vessel wall features on HRMRI included plaque enhancement, intraplaque hemorrhage, remodeling patterns, and plaque distribution. Culprit vessel wall features were compared between patients in the complete and incomplete BA configuration groups. RESULTS Among the 298 consecutively enrolled patients, 34 had severe BA stenosis. Twenty patients had complete anatomical BA configuration and another 14 of them displayed incomplete configuration. There were no significant differences in vessel wall features between the complete and incomplete configuration patient groups. However, the proximal configuration of BA was associated with intraplaque hemorrhage (p = 0.002) while the distal configuration of BA correlated with strong enhancement of BA plaque (p = 0.041). CONCLUSIONS No association was found between the complete and incomplete BA configuration groups and blood vessel wall features. The proximal configuration of BA was related with intraplaque hemorrhage and the distal configuration of BA was associated with strong plaque enhancement. Further studies are warranted to confirm these findings. TRIAL REGISTRATION URL: Unique identifier: NCT02705599 (March 10, 2016).

中文翻译：

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基底动脉构型与血管壁特征之间的关联：前瞻性高分辨率磁共振成像研究。

背景技术颅内血管构型与壁特征之间的关系仍未得到很好的研究。因此，我们旨在研究高分辨率磁共振成像（HRMRI）上基底动脉（BA）的远端和近端解剖结构与BA血管壁特征之间的关系。方法2014年9月至2017年1月，对怀疑有症状的颅内动脉狭窄的患者进行HRMRI。选择具有严重BA狭窄的患者进行这项前瞻性研究，根据双侧椎动脉和大脑后动脉的特点，将其分为完全和不完全BA构型对应的两组。HRMRI上的罪犯血管壁特征包括斑块增强，斑块内出血，重塑模式和斑块分布。比较了完整和不完整BA配置组中患者的罪犯血管壁特征。结果在298例连续入组的患者中，有34例患有严重的BA狭窄。20例患者具有完整的解剖学BA构型，另外14例显示不完整的构型。完整和不完整配置的患者组之间的血管壁特征无显着差异。然而，BA的近端形态与斑块内出血相关（p = 0.002），而BA的远端形态与BA斑块的强烈增强相关（p = 0.041）。结论在完整和不完整的BA配置组与血管壁特征之间未发现关联。BA的近端形态与斑块内出血有关，BA的远端形态与斑块增强有关。有必要做进一步的研究来证实这些发现。试用注册网址：唯一标识符：NCT02705599（2016年3月10日）。