J Radiol
-
Acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) is a life-threatening emergency with prognosis directly correlated with the delay in diagnosis and treatment. Clinical and laboratory findings are nonspecific and it is imperative to look for findings of AMI on CT and ultrasound examinations performed in patients with acute abdomen. Arterial and venous ischemia are different entities with different clinical and imaging features, treatment and prognosis. ⋯ Venous ischemia is less frequent. Due to its high reported sensitivity (90%), CT should be performed as a firstline imaging modality when AMI is suspected. CT and ultrasound imaging features of AMI include: bowel wall thickness and enhancement abnormalities, pneumatosis, portal venous gas, demonstration of intravascular thrombus, bowel dilatation and ascitis.
-
Blood supply to the human thalami is complex and multiple variants exist. The artery of Percheron is one of those variants and is characterized by a solitary arterial trunk that branches from one of the proximal segments of either posterior cerebral artery and supplies blood to the paramedian thalami. ⋯ We report six cases of bithalamic infarction secondary to occlusion of the artery of Percheron. We will illustrate the complex clinical symptomatology and underscore the role of imaging, especially MRI, for diagnosis.
-
Review Comparative Study
[Innovations in functional MR imaging of the brain: arterial spin labeling and diffusion].
The standard technique for brain activation functional MRI (fMRI) is the BOLD sequence. Two new techniques have emerged: arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI and diffusion MRI. Both have the theoretical advantage of more accurately directly demonstrating neuronal activation compared to BOLD imaging, resulting in improved spatial and temporal resolution. ⋯ AS such, ASL is not widely used clinically and diffusion remains in the field of research. However, the increasing availability of 3T MR systems coupled with multi-channel surface coils and improved postprocessing techniques should improve the detection of the brain activation signal. It is thus possible that these techniques could become clinically available either in complement to or as a replacement for BOLD imaging.
-
Several interventional radiology procedures are available for the management of cancer pain. In this article, we will briefly review the different procedures and their value in the setting of cancer pain management under two main categories: indirect action (regional anesthesia from neurolysis) and direct action on the tumor. ⋯ Several indications have previously been validated, including thermal ablation of bone metastases with results superior to conventional therapies. Additional applications should be validated over the next few years.
-
Since the introduction of radiofrequency tumor ablation of liver tumors in the late 1990s, local destructive therapies have been applied to lung, renal and bone lesions. In addition, new techniques have been introduced to compensate for the limitations of radiofrequency ablation, namely the reduced rate of complete ablation for tumors larger than 3 cm and tumors near vessels larger than 3 mm. ⋯ While it is a technique based on thermal ablation similar to radiofrequency ablation, there are significant differences between both techniques. Electroporation, of interest because of the non-thermal nature of the ablation process, also is under evaluation.