Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Sensory neuronopathies (SN) are a group of disorders characterized by primary damage to the dorsal root ganglia neurons. Clinical features include multifocal areas of hypoaesthesia, pain, dysautonomia, and sensory ataxia, which is the major source of disability. Diagnosis relies upon clinical assessment and nerve conductions studies, but sometimes it is difficult to distinguish SN from similar conditions, such as axonal polyneuropathies and some myelopathies. ⋯ MRI is able to evaluate the dorsal columns of the spinal cord and has proven useful in the workup of SN patients. Although T2 weighted hyperintensity restricted to the posterior fasciculi without contrast enhancement is the typical finding, additional abnormalities have been recently reported. The aim of this review is to gather available information on neuroimaging findings of SN, discuss their clinical correlates and the potential impact of novel MRI-based techniques.
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Comparative Study
Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Perfusion MRI and Diffusion-Weighted Imaging in Grading of Gliomas.
Accurate glioma grading is crucial for treatment planning and predicting prognosis. We performed a quantitative volumetric analysis to assess the diagnostic accuracy of histogram analysis of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) T1-weighted perfusion imaging in the preoperative evaluation of gliomas. ⋯ When derived from whole-tumor histogram analysis, DCE-MRI perfusion parameters performed better than ADC in noninvasively discriminating low- from high-grade gliomas.
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The clinical implications of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in non-demented Parkinson's disease (PD) have not been thoroughly examined. To address this, we investigated the spatial distribution of WMH and their regional predilection in non-demented patients with mild PD. ⋯ Voxel-wise LPM analysis revealed differences in the spatial distribution of WMH between PD-MCI and PD-NCI patients, particularly in the periventricular regions. A more widespread extent of WMH might be indicative of cognitive deterioration. Our findings warrant further longitudinal investigation into the importance of WMH spatial distribution as a predictor for conversion from PD to PD with dementia.
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Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) is associated with the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-based fractional anisotropy (FA) analyses have been used to evaluate white matter changes in patients with AD, it remains unknown how FA values change during the conversion of aMCI to AD. This study aimed to elucidate the prediction of conversion to AD and cognitive decline by FA values in uncinate fasciculus (UF) in aMCI patients. ⋯ These results suggested that FA values in the right UF might be an effective predictor of conversion of aMCI to AD.
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients show early changes in white matter (WM) structural integrity. We studied the use of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in assessing WM alterations in the predementia stage of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). ⋯ Our results suggest that DTI data provide better prediction accuracy than GM volume in predementia AD.