Neuroradiology
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Comparative Study
Multislice CT angiography in the selection of patients with ruptured intracranial aneurysms suitable for clipping or coiling.
We sought to establish whether CT angiography (CTA) can be applied to the planning and performance of clipping or coiling in ruptured intracranial aneurysms without recourse to intraarterial digital subtraction angiography (IA-DSA). ⋯ CTA should be used as the first diagnostic modality in the selection of patients for surgical or endovascular treatment of ruptured intracranial aneurysms. If CTA renders inconclusive results, IA-DSA should be performed. With negative CTA results the complementary value of IA-DSA is marginal. IA-DSA is not needed in patients with negative CTA and classic perimesencephalic SAH. Repeat IA-DSA or CTA should still be performed in patients with a nonperimesencephalic SAH.
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To report a retrospective series of 84 cerebral developmental venous anomalies (DVAs), focusing on associated parenchymal abnormalities within the drainage territory of the DVA. ⋯ Brain parenchymal abnormalities were associated with DVAs in close to two thirds of the cases evaluated. These abnormalities are thought to occur secondarily, likely during post-natal life, as a result of chronic venous hypertension. Outflow obstruction, progressive thickening of the walls of the DVA and their morphological organization into a venous convergence zone are thought to contribute to the development of venous hypertension in DVA.
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Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) and MR spectroscopy (MRS) provide useful data for tumor evaluation. To assess the contribution of these multimodal techniques in grading glial neoplasms, we compared the value of DWI, PWI and MRS in the evaluation of histologically proven high- and low-grade gliomas in a population of 105 patients. ⋯ Combining PWI and MRS with conventional MR imaging increases the accuracy of the attribution of malignancy to glial neoplasms. The best performing parameter was found to be the perfusion level.
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Pyogenic intraventricular empyema (PIE) is a potentially fatal CNS infection. However, it is sometimes difficult to diagnose PIE on the basis of clinical and conventional MRI findings. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has been accepted as a useful MR sequence for the diagnosis of various intracranial infections. The purpose of this study was to determine the DWI characteristics of PIE and the role of DWI in the diagnosis of PIE. ⋯ PIE shows a bright intensity on DWI, and DWI is a sensitive MR sequence for the diagnosis of PIE.