NeuroImage. Clinical
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2012
Susceptibility-weighted imaging at 7 T: Improved diagnosis of cerebral cavernous malformations and associated developmental venous anomalies.
In the diagnosis of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) magnetic resonance imaging is established as the gold standard. Conventional MRI techniques have their drawbacks in the diagnosis of CCMs and associated venous malformations (DVAs). The aim of our study was to evaluate susceptibility weighted imaging SWI for the detection of CCM and associated DVAs at 7 T in comparison with 3 T. ⋯ SWI sequences at ultra-high-field MRI improve the diagnosis of CCMs and associated DVAs and therefore add important pre-operative information.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2012
ReviewNeuroimaging of structural pathology and connectomics in traumatic brain injury: Toward personalized outcome prediction.
Recent contributions to the body of knowledge on traumatic brain injury (TBI) favor the view that multimodal neuroimaging using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and fMRI, respectively) as well as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has excellent potential to identify novel biomarkers and predictors of TBI outcome. This is particularly the case when such methods are appropriately combined with volumetric/morphometric analysis of brain structures and with the exploration of TBI-related changes in brain network properties at the level of the connectome. ⋯ The themes being explored cover notable trends in this area of research, including (1) the role of advanced MRI processing methods in the analysis of structural pathology, (2) the use of brain connectomics and network analysis to identify outcome biomarkers, and (3) the application of multivariate statistics to predict outcome using neuroimaging metrics. The goal of the review is to draw the community's attention to these recent advances on TBI outcome prediction methods and to encourage the development of new methodologies whereby structural neuroimaging can be used to identify biomarkers of TBI outcome.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2012
Structural imaging differences and longitudinal changes in primary lateral sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Magnetic resonance imaging measures have been proposed as objective markers to study upper motor neuron loss in motor neuron disorders. Cross-sectional studies have identified imaging differences between groups of healthy controls and patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) that correlate with disease severity, but it is not known whether imaging measures change as disease progresses. Additionally, whether imaging measures change in a similar fashion with disease progression in PLS and ALS is unclear. ⋯ Differences between PLS and ALS patients in the magnitude of thinning in cross-sectional studies are likely to reflect longer disease duration. We conclude that there is an evolution of structural imaging changes with disease progression in motor neuron disorders. Some changes, such as diffusion properties of the corticospinal tract, occur early while cortical thinning and volume loss occur later.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2012
"Awake" intraoperative functional MRI (ai-fMRI) for mapping the eloquent cortex: Is it possible in awake craniotomy?
As a promising noninvasive imaging technique, functional MRI (fMRI) has been extensively adopted as a functional localization procedure for surgical planning. However, the information provided by preoperative fMRI (pre-fMRI) is hampered by the brain deformation that is secondary to surgical procedures. Therefore, intraoperative fMRI (i-fMRI) becomes a potential alternative that can compensate for brain shifts by updating the functional localization information during craniotomy. ⋯ Comparisons between the pre-fMRI-derived localization result and the ai-fMRI derived result showed that the former was subject to a heavy brain shift and led to incorrect localization, while the latter solved that problem. Additionally, the approaches for the acquisition and processing of the ai-fMRI data were fully illustrated and described. Some practical issues on employing ai-fMRI in awake craniotomy were systemically discussed, and guidelines were provided.
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NeuroImage. Clinical · Jan 2012
Differences in white matter reflect atypical developmental trajectory in autism: A Tract-based Spatial Statistics study.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which white matter (WM) maturation is affected. We assessed WM integrity in 16 adolescents and 14 adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and in matched neurotypical controls (NT) using diffusion weighted imaging and Tract-based Spatial Statistics. Decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) was observed in adolescents with ASD in tracts involved in emotional face processing, language, and executive functioning, including the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and the inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculi. ⋯ We evaluated the effect of age on WM development across the entire age range. Positive correlations between FA values and age were observed in the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, the left superior longitudinal fasciculus, the corpus callosum, and the cortical spinal tract of ASD participants, but not in NT participants. Our data underscore the dynamic nature of brain development in ASD, showing the presence of an atypical process of WM maturation, that appears to normalize over time and could be at the basis of behavioral improvements often observed in high-functioning autism.