Neuroradiology
-
This study aimed to determine changes in size of lumbar spinal canal and related articular structures, during dynamic MR scans acquired in symptomatic patients standing upright using a new open MR system. ⋯ Dynamic MR is a valuable diagnostic exam to analyze the structures involved in lumbar back pain due to spinal canal stenosis and spondylolisthesis; in supine position, relevant factors can be underestimated or hidden, becoming appreciable only patient standing upright. In this series, flavum ligament thickening presented a role comparable to disc bulge for narrowing of lumbar spinal canal.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
GREAT-a randomized controlled trial comparing HydroSoft/HydroFrame and bare platinum coils for endovascular aneurysm treatment: procedural safety and core-lab-assessedangiographic results.
Hybrid hydrogel-platinum coils (HydroCoil) have proven effective for endovascular aneurysm treatment. To overcome technical limitations (coil stiffness, time restriction for placement), a second generation of softer hydrogel coils has been brought to clinical practice (HydroSoft, HydroFrame). We report on procedural safety and core-lab-assessed angiographic results from an open-label multicenter randomized controlled trial. ⋯ Second-generation hydrogel coils can be used in a wide spectrum of aneurysms with a risk profile equivalent to bare platinum. Packing density was significantly higher in aneurysms treated with hydrogel coils.
-
A preliminary study of the neuroanatomical correlates of primary writing tremor: role of cerebellum.
To explore the neuroanatomical correlates of primary writing tremor (PWT) and the role of cerebellum, using advanced structural neuroimaging. Till date, there are no studies exploring the gray and white matter changes using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in PWT. ⋯ Our study found that patients with PWT had predominant gray matter atrophy in parts of cerebellum and frontal lobe along with white matter changes of the cingulum and frontal lobe connections.
-
Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Preoperative language mapping by repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation and diffusion tensor imaging fiber tracking and their comparison to intraoperative stimulation.
Repetitive navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can be used for preoperative language mapping, but it still suffers from comparatively high sensitivity and low specificity when compared to direct cortical stimulation (DCS). Therefore, this study evaluates whether the additional consideration of rTMS-based diffusion tensor imaging fiber tracking (DTI FT) for identifying language-positive brain regions improves specificity when compared to DCS. ⋯ The additional use of rTMS-based DTI FT to rTMS did not improve the identification of DCS-positive language areas during awake surgery. Yet, concerning rTMS-based DTI FT, this new technique must be validated itself by intraoperative subcortical stimulation.
-
The aim of this study was to evaluate the white matter integrity in brains of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using a voxel-based analyses of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data. ⋯ Significant increases of AD values were concordant to those of RD and MD and more extensive than FA changes. Analyzing all diffusivity parameters, using TBSS, can detect more white matter microstructural changes in patients with SLE than analyzing FA alone.