Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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The authors establish accuracy parameters of a broad diagnostic battery for bedside transcranial Doppler (TCD) to detect flow changes due to internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis or occlusion. ⋯ In symptomatic patients, bedside TCD can accurately detect flow changes consistent with hemodynamically significant ICA obstruction; however, TCD should not be a substitute for direct carotid evaluation. Because TCD is sensitive and specific for a > or = 70% carotid stenosis or occlusion in both extracranial and intracranial carotid segments, it can be used as a complementary test to refine other imaging findings and detect tandem lesions.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
SonoVue in transcranial Doppler investigations of the cerebral arteries.
The authors investigated the safety and diagnostic potential of a new ultrasound contrast agent (SonoVue) using transcranial color-coded duplex sonography (TCCS). ⋯ The results obtained from this multicenter study demonstrate that the administration of SonoVue to patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease who undergo TCCS examination of cerebral vessels improves the visualization of intracranial arteries, providing a dose-dependent contrast enhancement and a clinically useful duration of signal enhancement related to the dose. During this multicenter study, SonoVue proved to be a safe and well-tolerated compound.
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Comparative Study
Transcranial sonography of brain tumors in the adult: an in vitro and in vivo study.
Few reports indicate the potential of transcranial sonography (TCS) in detecting human brain tumors. ⋯ The value of TCS for the diagnostics of brain tumors is at present limited. Once the tumor has been identified, sonographic results match well with those of MRI.
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Cerebral vasculitis is an unusual disorder with many causes. Infectious causes of cerebral vasculitis are predominantly bacterial or viral in nature. Purulent bacterial vasculitis is most often a complication of severe bacterial meningitis. ⋯ Shortly thereafter, an MRI examination revealed diffuse leptomeningeal enhancement and abscess and a right parietal subdural empyema. Infectious vasculitis secondary to purulent meningitis has a rapidly progressive course and presents with cranial nerve palsy with involvement of the cavernous sinus. Although the association of this disease with pregnancy has not been established, it should be recognized that the early imaging studies may be negative or discordant and follow-up imaging might be necessary.
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Patients with cerebellar infarction are threatened by infratentorial herniation and impaired circulation of cerebrospinal fluid if mass effect in posterior fossa develops. Clinical assessment is often impaired in patients with disturbances of consciousness. Therefore, computed tomography (CT) examination is essential in the diagnosis of complication and decision for operative treatment. ⋯ The proposed CT score is of high interrater and retest reliability, supplements the clinical assessment of the patient, and is able to monitor the efficacy of decompressive treatment.