Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Assess the safety and efficacy of the continuous transcranial duplex Doppler (TCDD) monitoring of middle cerebral artery (MCA) (M1-2) occlusion in acute ischemic stroke (IS) patients and compare TCDD to intra-arterial thrombolysis (IAT) and intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). ⋯ Continual TCDD monitoring might be safe and potentially beneficial in treatment of MCA occlusion.
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Double Inversion Recovery Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DIR) consists of two adiabatic non-selective inversion pulses applied before a Turbo Spin Echo (TSE) sequence, in order to suppress the signal from two tissues with different longitudinal relaxation times T(1) simultaneously. In the brain, DIR is used to selectively image the gray matter (GM) by nulling the signal from white matter (WM) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The main limitation of the technique remains the intrinsic low SNR due to the specific preparation of the longitudinal magnetization. The recent availability of high field magnets operating at 7 T for human imaging offers the advantage of higher SNR. This study shows the feasibility of brain Double Inversion Recovery Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DIR-MRI) at 7 T in vivo in healthy volunteers. ⋯ DIR is feasible at 7 T despite the problems associated with B(1) in-homogeneity.
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Our aim was to investigate the [(1)H] MR spectroscopy (MRS) findings of Lafora Disease (LD), which is a disabling form of progressive myoclonic epilepsy. ⋯ We conclude that the cerebellum is the mostly affected structure in LD and there are significant correlations of MRS findings with some clinical parameters. The differences in the group may be related to different genetic mutations besides disease duration and other clinical variables. MRS studies could provide insights about the severity of the involvement of LD.
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Case Reports
Transcranial Doppler sonography: abnormal waveform pattern of intracranial arteries in acute aortic arch dissection.
We describe an interesting pattern of transcranial Doppler (TCD) intracranial blood flow waveforms in a patient with an acute aortic arch type A dissection. A 49-year-old patient presented with a low blood pressure after a syncopal episode, severe chest pain, and mild left hemiparesis. ⋯ TCD revealed an abnormal waveform pattern recorded in middle cerebral, internal carotid, and anterior cerebral arteries bilaterally with a pre-systolic sharp wave that gave the appearance of duplicated systolic phase. Our finding adds another interesting pattern of hemodynamic changes in cerebral circulation in patients with acute aortic arch dissections.
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Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is a safe, noninvasive imaging method for evaluating cerebral blood flow (rCBF). The purpose of this article is to present ASL imaging features of 38 elderly cognitively normals (CN) with their rCBF values and an averaged profile of targeted anatomic regions rCBF values. ⋯ There are regional variations in rCBF both increased and decreased with the posterior cingulate and precuneus cortex showing the highest averaged values and signal intensity (bright spots). These variations represent the normal profile of a CN elderly brain, with higher perfusion in areas associated with cognition, memory, and behavior. It is necessary to understand these normal variations in order to determine if there are perfusion changes in ASL detected in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.