Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Tapentadol and oxycodone affect resting-state functional brain connectivity: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
The changes in functional brain connectivity induced by treatment with analgesics are poorly investigated. Unfortunately, results from clinical studies investigating treatments in patients with pain are often confounded by co-medication and comorbidity. Thalamus is central in sensory processing, and we hypothesized that functional connectivity between thalamus and other brain areas in healthy volunteers was different in treatment with oxycodone, representing a pure opioid, compared to treatment with tapentadol, which has a dual effect on the opioidergic and adrenergic systems. ⋯ This study has shown that the functional connectivity between thalamus and other brain areas central in pain processing was different for the tapentadol and oxycodone treatments compared to placebo. This supports that the two treatments exert different mechanism of action. Further studies with larger sample sizes need to be carried out in order to validate this.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
MRI to detect and localize the area postrema in multiple sclerosis: The role of 3D-DIR and 3D-FLAIR.
Area postrema (AP) is a highly vascularized paired 2 mm-long anatomical structure, localized on the dorsal inferior surface of the medulla oblongata, at the caudal end of the fourth-ventricle. AP is principally affected in AP syndrome, which is commonly associated with autoimmune inflammatory diseases, including essentially neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). The aim of this study is to assess the best cerebral MRI sequences and planes for AP detection in order to assist or aid in the diagnosis of difficult NMOSD cases. ⋯ As evidenced, AP was easily assessed on 3DDIR and 3DFLAIR emphasizing the importance of adding these sequences to NMOSD MRI-protocols. Moreover, the most effective imaging plane in identifying AP was the axial plane.
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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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Randomized Controlled Trial
Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy to Assess Central Pain Responses in a Nonpharmacologic Treatment Trial of Osteoarthritis.
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common source of pain in older adults. Although OA-induced pain can be relieved with analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs, the current opioid epidemic is fostering the exploration of nonpharmacologic strategies for pain mitigation. Amongs these, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and mindfulness-based meditation (MBM) hold potential for pain-relief efficacy due to their neuromodulatory effects of the central nervous system, which is known to play a fundamental role in pain perception and processing. ⋯ In conclusion, fNIRS can be effectively used to investigate neural mechanisms of pain at the cortical level in association with nonpharmacological, self-administered treatments.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A Novel Semiautomated Pipeline to Measure Brain Atrophy and Lesion Burden in Multiple Sclerosis: A Long-Term Comparative Study.
Lesion burden and brain volume changes are frequent end points in research but nowadays are becoming important in the clinical practice of multiple sclerosis (MS). The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures obtained by in-house developed ScanView software and commonly used volumetric techniques for assessment of T2 lesion and whole brain volumes and their changes. ⋯ We found relatively strong correlations of cross-sectional and longitudinal data obtained by both techniques. However, SIENA showed lower intraindividual variability than the ScanView method in measuring whole brain volume loss over time.