Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Cerebral microbleed (CMB) detection impacts disease diagnosis and management. Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) MRI depictions of CMBs are used with phase images (SWIP) to distinguish blood from calcification, via qualitative intensity evaluation (bright/dark). However, the intensities depicted for a single lesion can vary within and across consecutive SWIP image planes, impairing the classification of findings as a CMB. We hypothesize that quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) MRI, which maps tissue susceptibility, demonstrates less in- and through-plane intensity variation, improving the clinician's ability to categorize a finding as a CMB. ⋯ QSM more consistently demonstrates interpretable lesion intensity compared to SWIP as used for distinguishing CMBs from calcification.
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Observational Study
Gadolinium-based contrast agent exposures and physical and cognitive disability in multiple sclerosis.
The clinical correlation of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) has not been well studied in multiple sclerosis (MS). We investigated the extent to which the number of GBCA administrations relates to self-reported disability and performance measures. ⋯ No detrimental effects were observed between GBCA exposure and self-reported disability and standardized objective measures of physical and cognitive performance. While several weak associations were found, they indicated benefit on these measures.
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Myelin water fraction (MWF) deficits as measured by myelin water imaging (MWI) have been related to worse motor function in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). However, it is unknown if measures from MWI metrics in motor areas relate to fall risk measures in PwMS. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between MWI measures in motor areas to performance on clinical measures of fall risk and disability in PwMS. ⋯ MWI of key motor regions was associated with walking performance in PwMS. Further MWI studies are needed to identify relationships between pathology and clinical function in PwMS to guide targeted rehabilitation therapies aimed at preventing falls.
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The performance of a novel prototype four-dimensional (4D) digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) diagnosis was evaluated and compared with that of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) DSA. ⋯ The performance of this prototype 4D DSA in cerebral AVMs diagnosis was largely equivalent to that of 2D and 3D DSA combination. Four-dimensional DSA can be regarded as a very good complement for 2D DSA in cerebral AVM diagnosis.
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The circuitry underlying heterogenous cognitive profiles in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether structural changes in frontostriatal and limbic pathways contribute to different cognitive trajectories in PD. ⋯ In PD, frontostriatal structural metrics are associated with attention/executive tasks, whereas limbic changes correlated with faster global cognitive decline, particularly in memory tasks.