Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
-
Several studies have demonstrated that brain atrophy can be detected over relatively short intervals from the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis (MS). Reviewing the published data, the authors highlight some hypothetical pathological mechanisms proposed as determinants of brain atrophy. ⋯ Examination of the pathological mechanisms proposed in the reviewed studies led the authors to believe that inflammation is only in part responsible for the development of brain atrophy. This conclusion may have an implication for the strategies of tissue protection advocated in the early stages of the RR course and strengthen recent evidence indicating that anti-inflammatory immunomodulatory agents and immunosuppressive treatments, which predominantly act against the inflammatory component of disease activity, may not have similar effects on progressive tissue loss, either in RR or progressive MS.
-
The diagnosis of preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD) (or mild cognitive impairment [MCI]) is loaded with a high degree of uncertainty. The aim was to test the accuracy of a computed tomography-based (CT-based) marker of medial temporal lobe atrophy, the radial width of the temporal horn (rWTH), in MCI. ⋯ The rWTH is a measure sensitive to the regional brain atrophy common in early AD.
-
The purpose of this study was to reevaluate the usefulness of relative maximum signal drop (rMSD), as compared to relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) and cerebral blood flow (rCBF), in dynamic susceptibility contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). ⋯ The authors conclude that rMSD is as useful as rCBF under a variety of pathophysiological conditions, whereas in conditions with normal mean transit time, such as brain tumors, rMSD provides equivalent blood volume information to rCBV. The simplicity of rMSD maps could lead to the increased use of perfusion-weighted MRI.
-
Case Reports
A case study of hemispatial neglect using finite element analysis and positron emission tomography.
The authors present a patient who developed transient hemispatial neglect following surgical drainage of a large right frontotemporal arachnoid cyst. As symptoms evolved in parallel with brain shift over the subsequent months, the authors hypothesized that the disorder was associated with the appearance of mechanical stresses in the cerebral mantle. ⋯ The authors conclude that brain deformation was a contributing factor in the reversible neglect syndrome by compromising the normal flow of blood and/or the deactivation of subcortical circuits of the parietal lobe.