AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology
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AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · Aug 2007
Clinical TrialEmbolization of high-flow craniofacial vascular malformations with onyx.
Various techniques and materials have been used for the endovascular treatment of craniofacial high-flow arteriovenous vascular malformations, because their rarity precludes standardization of their treatment. The aim of this retrospective review is to assess Onyx as the primary embolic agent in the treatment of these vascular malformations. ⋯ Onyx appears to be a safe and effective liquid embolic agent for use in the treatment of craniofacial high-flow vascular malformations with distinct advantages and disadvantages compared with n-BCA.
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AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · Aug 2007
Clinical TrialPain improvement after intradiskal lidocaine administration in provocation lumbar diskography: association with diskographic contrast leakage.
Our aim was to evaluate the relationship of pain reduction, after intradiskal lidocaine administration during provocation lumbar diskography, to the presence of contrast leakage on postdiskographic imaging. ⋯ Painful disks exhibiting diskographic leakage tend to be highly responsive to intradiskal lidocaine administration, whereas painful disks without diskographic leakage tend not to improve. This observation has implications with respect to targeting the origin of a patient's back pain and may have specific implications with respect to choice of treatment.
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AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · Aug 2007
Whole-brain histogram and voxel-based analyses of diffusion tensor imaging in patients with leukoaraiosis: correlation with motor and cognitive impairment.
Cerebral white matter changes, termed leukoaraiosis (LA), appearing as areas of increased signal intensity in T2-weighted MR images, are common in elderly subjects, but the possible correlation of LA with cognitive or motor deficit has not been established. We hypothesized that histogram and voxel-based analyses of whole-brain mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps calculated from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) could be more sensitive tools than visual scales to investigate the clinical correlates of LA. ⋯ These results are consistent with the hypothesis that histogram and voxel-based analyses of the whole-brain MD and FA maps are more sensitive tools than the visual evaluation for clinical correlation in patients with LA.
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AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · Aug 2007
Clinical TrialIncorporating functional MR imaging into diffusion tensor tractography in the preoperative assessment of the corticospinal tract in patients with brain tumors.
Our goal was to improve the preoperative assessment of the corticospinal tract (CST) in patients with brain tumors. We investigated whether the integration of functional MR imaging (fMRI) data and diffusion tensor (DT) tractography can be used to evaluate the spatial relationship between the hand and foot fibers of the CST and tumor borders. ⋯ Incorporating fMRI into DT tractography in the preoperative assessment of patients with brain tumors may provide additional information on the course of important white matter tracts and their relationship to the tumor. Only this approach allows a distinction between the CST components, while visualization of the CST is improved when fiber tracking is hampered by tumor (infiltration) or perifocal edema.
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AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · Aug 2007
MR diffusion tensor imaging and fiber tracking in spinal cord arteriovenous malformations: a preliminary study.
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the spinal cord in patients harboring spinal arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) was carried out to evaluate the feasibility of this new technique to determine the displacement of the spinal cord tracts and to correlate morphologic and functional DTI data (fractional anisotropy [FA] and apparent diffusion coefficient [ADC]) with the clinical symptoms. ⋯ We demonstrate that AVMs may interrupt, displace, or separate the fiber tracts and that clinical symptoms may be reflected by the quantitative FA results and the morphologic loss of fibers distant to the lesion. DTI with fiber tracking offers a novel approach to image spinal cord AVMs and may open a window to understand the complex pathophysiology of these lesions.