Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Contrast-enhancing lesions (CEL) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are believed to represent inflammatory disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS), but their relationship to subsequent long-term disability and progression is unclear, particularly at longer time periods such as 8-10 years. ⋯ While number and volume of CEL at baseline do not directly correlate with disability in the longer term in MS, our data suggest that 1 route to disability involves relapses as a mediator variable in the causal sequence of MS progression from CEL to disability. Further studies using relapse as a mediator variable in a larger data set may be warranted.
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Comparative Study
Reduced Field of View Diffusion-Weighted Imaging in the Evaluation of Congenital Spine Malformations.
Reduced field of view diffusion-weighted imaging (rFOV DWI) is a more recently described technique in the evaluation of spine pathology. In adults, this technique has been shown to increase clinician confidence in identification of diffusion restricting lesions. ⋯ rFOV DWI of the lumbar spine in the pediatric population has qualitatively improved image quality and observer confidence for lesion detection when compared to conventional fFOV SS-EPI DWI.
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Evidence of remote optic neuritis is often used to support a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can provide qualitative and quantitative data on the retina, where the effects of optic neuritis can be seen. Our aim was to determine whether there is a quantitative difference in retinal structures in eyes with optic neuritis compared with those without, and which measures were best able to discriminate eyes with a history of optic neuritis from nonoptic neuritis eyes in MS patients. ⋯ Optic neuritis is associated with thinning in multiple regions of the retina. Optic neuritis eyes can be differentiated most accurately from nonoptic neuritis eyes using OCT. Our work suggests a potential role for OCT in documenting a remote history of optic neuritis to corroborate a diagnosis of MS.
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Functional imaging is becoming increasingly important for the detection of neurodegenerative disorders. Perfusion MRI with arterial spin labeling (ASL) has been reported to provide promising diagnostic possibilities but is not yet widely used in routine clinical work. The aim of this study was to compare, in a clinical setting, the visual assessment of subtracted ASL CBF maps with and without additional smoothing, to FDG-PET data. ⋯ Spatial smoothing of ASL images increased false positive results in the discrimination of hypoperfusion conditions from healthy elderly. It also decreased interreader agreement. However, regional characterization and subjective perception of image quality was improved.
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Pathologic diagnosis is the gold standard in evaluating imaging measures developed as biomarkers for pathologically defined disorders. A brain MRI atlas representing autopsy-sampled tissue can be used to directly compare imaging and pathology findings. Our objective was to develop a brain MRI atlas representing the cortical regions that are routinely sampled at autopsy for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). ⋯ In an atlas developed for imaging and pathologic correlation studies, we demonstrated that antemortem amyloid burden measured in the atlas ROIs on amyloid PET is strongly correlated with β-amyloid density measured on histology. This atlas can be used in imaging and pathologic correlation studies.