Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption detected on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in acute ischemic stroke as a hyperintense acute reperfusion marker (HARM) is associated with upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9). Although activated leukocytes, including monocytes, are the main source of MMPs, limited data exist to support relationship between leukocyte activation and BBB disruption in patients with acute ischemic stroke. The goal of this study is to investigate the relationship between neutrophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes with BBB disruption detected as HARM (+) in patients with acute ischemic stroke. ⋯ Increased monocyte count associated with HARM supports importance of systemic inflammation in BBB disruption in acute ischemic stroke.
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Physiologic asymmetry of transverse sinus (TS) caliber is common and can lead to misinterpretation of magnetic resonance venography (MRV) studies of the brain. This retrospective study assesses the ability of multiple anatomic features on axial noncontrast T1-weighted images (T1WIs) of the brain to predict congenital TS dominance. ⋯ Multiple anatomic features seen on conventional axial T1WI can be used to predict the laterality of congenital TS dominance and can help inform the interpretation of MRV studies of the brain.
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A pipeline for fully automated segmentation of 3T brain MRI scans in multiple sclerosis (MS) is presented. This 3T morphometry (3TM) pipeline provides indicators of MS disease progression from multichannel datasets with high-resolution 3-dimensional T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery (FLAIR) contrast. 3TM segments white (WM) and gray matter (GM) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to assess atrophy and provides WM lesion (WML) volume. ⋯ This pipeline produces probability maps for brain lesions and tissue classes, facilitating expert review/correction and may provide high throughput, efficient characterization of MS in large datasets.
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The aim of this article is to illustrate the principal challenges, from the medical and technical point of view, associated with the use of ultrahigh field (UHF) scanners in the clinical setting and to present available solutions to circumvent these limitations. We would like to show the differences between UHF scanners and those used routinely in clinical practice, the principal advantages, and disadvantages, the different UHFs that are ready be applied to routine clinical practice such as susceptibility-weighted imaging, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, 3-dimensional time of flight, magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition gradient echo, magnetization-prepared 2 rapid acquisition gradient echo, and diffusion-weighted imaging, the technical principles of these sequences, and the particularities of advanced techniques such as diffusion tensor imaging, spectroscopy, and functional imaging at 7TMR. Finally, the main clinical applications in the field of the neuroradiology are discussed and the side effects are reported.
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Cerebral arteries may exhibit a wide range of variation from normal anatomy, which can be incidentally discovered during imaging. Knowledge of such variants is crucial to differentiate them from pathologies, to understand the etiology of certain pathologies directly related to a vascular variant, and to depict the changes in collateral circulation in patients with certain variants. ⋯ In this review, we summarize the variants and anomalies of cerebral arteries seen on cross-sectional imaging classified by a morphological approach and categorize their significance from a clinical perspective. This structured review is intended to serve as a guide for daily use in clinical practice.