1,720,964 research outputs found
Henoch-Schoenlein syndrome and cerebellar henorrhage: report of an adolescent case and literature review
Differential diagnosis of brain tumor and brain abscess with diffusion MR. Report of 2 cases and review of the literature
BOLD functional MRI applied to patients with intrinsic cerebral lesions in critical areas
Impaired Functional Connectivity Unmasked by Simple Repetitive Motor Task in Early Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2014 Nov 21. pii: 1545968314558600.
The relationship between inflammation and atrophy in clinically isolated syndromes suggestive of multiple sclerosis: a monthly MRI study after triple-dose gadolinium-DTPA
OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between inflammation and brain atrophy in patients with a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: Monthly triple-dose gadolinium (Gd/DTPA)-enhanced MRI scans over 6 months were obtained in 62 consecutive CIS patients with an abnormal baseline MRI scan. Subsequently MRI was performed at months 12 and 18. Patients who developed a clinically definite MS (i. e., a second clinical episode) ended the study at the time of the relapse. For each scan, the number and volume of newly active lesions (Gd-enhancement/new or newly enlarging T2 lesion that did not enhance), and the number and volume of T2 hyperintense lesions (T2-LL) and T1-black holes (T1-LL) were calculated. The percentage of brain volume changes (PBVC) was assessed using a fully automated technique (SIENA; Structural Image Evaluation using Normalization of Atrophy). RESULTS: Twenty-four (39%) developed clinically definite MS by month 18. Thirty-eight (61%) were relapsefree and completed the MRI follow-up. Relapse-free patients showed a progressive median increase between baseline and month 18 in T1-LL (25%, p0.001), but not in T2-LL (8.5%, p=ns). PBVC decreased by 1.1% (p0.001) in a time-dependent pattern (Kendall coefficient of concordance=0.85). Exploratory subgroup analyses showed a trend towards progressive decreases in brain volume in active patients (i. e., those with at least one newly active lesion during monthly MRI scanning; Spearman's R=-0.61; p0.001), but not among inactive patients (Spearman's R=-0.10; p=0.53). Significant differences in median brain volume changes between the active and inactive patient groups were found at months 12 and 18; the difference detected at month 6 was not significant. The cumulative number and volume of new Gd-enhancing lesions developed during the 6 months of frequent MRI scanning were highly correlated with PBVC over the 18-month period (Spearman R values were 0.73 and 0.85, respectively). The strongest predictor of PBVC at 18 months was the cumulative volume of newly active lesions during frequent MRI scanning [ss=-0. 83, standard error (SE)=0.07, p0.001]. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that visible inflammation as detected by monthly, triple-dose Gd-enhanced MRI is an important factor in the pathogenesis of brain tissue loss in CIS patients. However, inflammation and brain atrophy do not proceed in parallel: atrophy appeared only after a delay of months following acute inflammation. Frequent MRI scanning allows for the detection of CIS patients who will develop brain atrophy in the short-term
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Disrupted resting-state functional connectivity in progressive supranuclear palsy
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:
Studies on functional connectivity in progressive supranuclear palsy have been restricted to the thalamus and midbrain tegmentum. The present study aims to evaluate functional connectivity abnormalities of the subcortical structures in these patients. Functional connectivity will be correlated with motor and nonmotor symptoms of the disease.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Nineteen patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (mean age, 70.93 ± 5.19 years) and 12 age-matched healthy subjects (mean age, 69.17 ± 5.20 years) underwent multimodal MR imaging, including fMRI at rest, 3D T1-weighted imaging, and DTI. fMRI data were processed with fMRI of the Brain Software Library tools by using the dorsal midbrain tegmentum, thalamus, caudate nucleus, putamen, and pallidum as seed regions.
RESULTS:
Patients had lower functional connectivity than healthy subjects in all 5 resting-state networks, mainly involving the basal ganglia, thalamus, anterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal and temporo-occipital cortices, supramarginal gyrus, supplementary motor area, and cerebellum. Compared with healthy subjects, patients also displayed subcortical atrophy and DTI abnormalities. Decreased thalamic functional connectivity correlated with clinical scores, as assessed by the Hoehn and Yahr Scale and by the bulbar and mentation subitems of the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Rating Scale. Decreased pallidum functional connectivity correlated with lower Mini-Mental State Examination scores; decreased functional connectivity in the dorsal midbrain tegmentum network correlated with lower scores in the Frontal Assessment Battery.
CONCLUSIONS:
The present study demonstrates a widespread disruption of cortical-subcortical connectivity in progressive supranuclear palsy and provides further insight into the pathophysiologic mechanisms of motor and cognitive impairment in this condition
- …
