Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic inflammatory arteriopathy of medium and large-sized arteries, predominantly affecting branches of the external carotid artery. Ischemic stroke has been reported in 2.8-7% of patients diagnosed with GCA. The majority of ischemic strokes may involve the posterior circulation as a result of vertebral and/or, less frequently, of basilar artery vasculitis. ⋯ Specifically, signs of extracranial vertebral artery wall inflammation ("halo" sign) and focal luminar stenoses may be accurately depicted by ultrasounds in high-risk patients or individuals with ischemic stroke attributed to GCA. In this review, we present three cases of GCA and posterior circulation ischemic complications that were initially evaluated with comprehensive neurosonology protocol and were promptly diagnosed with GCA based on the characteristic "halo" sign in the temporal and vertebral arteries. In addition, we discuss the relevant literature concerning the utility of CDS for the early diagnosis of GCA, focusing on the subtype with extracranial arterial involvement, particularly that of the vertebral arteries.
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Manual segmentation of white matter (WM) bundles requires extensive training and is prohibitively labor-intensive for large-scale studies. Automated segmentation methods are necessary in order to eliminate operator dependency and to enable reproducible studies. Significant changes in the WM landscape throughout childhood require flexible methods to capture the variance across the span of brain development. ⋯ This novel automated segmentation approach is a promising tool for reproducible large-scale tractography analyses in pediatric populations and particularly for the quantitative assessment of structural connections underlying various clinical presentations in neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Post-stroke blood-brain barrier disruption predicts poor outcome in patients enrolled in the ACTION study.
A prior study found a link between post-stroke blood-brain barrier disruption and functional outcomes. The current study aimed to replicate this finding in a cohort of patients recruited in the context of a randomized clinical trial. ⋯ With sufficient image quality, elevated BBPI measured in the days after an ischemic event is predictive of worse functional outcome and may serve as a biomarker for post-stroke inflammation.
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The first pass effect has been reported as a mechanical thrombectomy (MT) success metric in patients with large vessel occlusive stroke. We aimed to compare the clinical and neuroimagign outcomes of patients who had favorable recanalization (mTICI 2c or mTICI 3) achieved in one pass versus those requiring multiple passes. ⋯ The first-pass reperfusion was associated with a trend toward favorable clinical outcome and lower rates of ICH. These data suggest that the first-pass effect should be the mechanical thrombectomy procedure goal.
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Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a noninvasive optical brain-imaging technique that detects changes in hemoglobin concentration in the cerebral cortex. fNIRS devices are safe, silent, portable, robust against motion artifacts, and have good temporal resolution. fNIRS is reliable and trustworthy, as well as an alternative and a complement to other brain-imaging modalities, such as electroencephalography or functional magnetic resonance imaging. Given these advantages, fNIRS has become a well-established tool for neuroscience research, used not only for healthy cortical activity but also as a biomarker during clinical assessment in individuals with schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disease, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and cancer screening. Owing to its wide applicability, studies on fNIRS have increased exponentially over the last two decades. ⋯ University of Tübingen in Germany has produced the most trending papers since 2000. USA was the most prolific country with the most active institutions, followed by China, Japan, Germany, and South Korea. The results also revealed global trends in emerging areas of research, such as neurodevelopment, aging, and cognitive and emotional assessment.