Presentation
Previous history of pontine infarction treated with vascular stent for focal stenosis. New onset of neurological symptoms. ?patency of the stent
Patient Data
Apparent high-grade stenosis in the proximal basilar artery. However, note rim of low signal intensity on the source MRA images and the susceptibility artifact on the SWI study, indicating this represents a metallic stent.
Assess the stent patency
CT angiogram less affected by metallic artifact shows that the stent is patent especially on the curved MPR (arrow)
Case Discussion
This case demonstrates that MRI artifacts caused by metallic stents can mimic arterial stenosis, while the stent is much more obvious on CT.