Preoperative mediastinal and hilar nodal staging with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer: which is better?

Background: To compare the diagnostic capability of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ((18)F-FDG PET/CT) in the N stage assessment in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of all available studies of the diagnostic performance of DWI and (18)F-FDG PET/CT in the N stage assessment of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. We determined the sensitivity and specificity across studies, calculated the positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR+ and LR-, respectively), and constructed the summary receiver operating characteristic curves using hierarchical regression models.

In ovo monitoring of smooth muscle fiber development in the chick embryo: diffusion tensor imaging with histologic correlation.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging is a noninvasive method of evaluating embryonic development. Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging, which is based on the measuring the directional diffusivity of water molecules, is an established method of evaluating tissue structure. Prolonged imaging times have precluded the use of embryonic diffusion tensor imaging due to motion artifact.

Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency in multiple sclerosis: a historical perspective.

Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a term used to describe impaired venous drainage from the central nervous system (CNS) caused by abnormalities in anatomy and flow affecting the extracranial veins. Recently, it has been proposed that CCSVI may contribute to the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS). It is hypothesized that venous obstruction results in abnormal flow that promotes inflammation at the blood-brain barrier and that this triggers a process marked by a disturbance of homeostasis within the CNS that leads to demyelination and neurodegeneration.

Quantitative flow measurements in the internal jugular veins of multiple sclerosis patients using magnetic resonance imaging.

Purpose: To study the blood flow through the internal jugular veins (IJVs) of the MS population.

Materials And Methods: Two hundred MS patients and 14 normal volunteers were evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3T. Contrast-enhanced time-resolved 3D MR angiography and 2D time-of-flight imaging were performed to assess abnormalities in the extracranial vascular anatomy.

The role of venous abnormalities in neurological disease.

The role of the venous circulation has long been underestimated in clinical practice and in research into neurological diseases. In this review, we present an overview of the existing evidence that venous abnormalities can play a key role in the development and manifestation of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. We review the history behind the role of venous diseases in multiple sclerosis and their connections with the disease landmarks, the links of chronic venous hypertension to cerebral hydrodynamics and the role of iron in MS.

Effects of variable blast pressures on blood flow and oxygen saturation in rat brain as evidenced using MRI.

It has been recognized that primary blast waves may result in neurotrauma in soldiers in theater. A new type of contrast used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), has been developed that is based on the different susceptibility levels in diverse tissues and can detect decreases in cerebral blood flow (CBF) using inferred oxygen saturation changes in tissue. In addition, a continuous arterial spin-labeled (ASL) MRI sequence was used as a direct measure of regional CBF within the brain tissue.

The role of susceptibility weighted imaging in functional MRI.

The development of functional brain magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been a boon for neuroscientists and radiologists alike. It provides for fundamental information on brain function and better diagnostic tools to study disease. In this paper, we will review some of the early concepts in high resolution gradient echo imaging with a particular emphasis on susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) and MR angiography (MRA).

Patients with multiple sclerosis with structural venous abnormalities on MR imaging exhibit an abnormal flow distribution of the internal jugular veins.

Purpose: To evaluate extracranial venous structural and flow characteristics in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Materials And Methods: Two hundred subjects with MS from two sites (n = 100 each) were evaluated with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at 3 T. Contrast-enhanced time-resolved MR angiography and time-of-flight MR venography were used to assess vascular anatomy.

Assessing abnormal iron content in the deep gray matter of patients with multiple sclerosis versus healthy controls.

Background And Purpose: It is well known that patients with MS tend to have abnormal iron deposition in and around the MS plaques, in the basal ganglia and the THA. In this study, we used SWI to quantify iron content in patients with MS and healthy volunteers.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-two patients with MS were recruited to assess abnormal iron content in their basal ganglia and THA structures.

Different iron-deposition patterns of multiple system atrophy with predominant parkinsonism and idiopathetic Parkinson diseases demonstrated by phase-corrected susceptibility-weighted imaging.

Background And Purpose: MSA-P and IPD have similar clinical presentations that may complicate accurate clinical diagnosis. Different iron-deposition patterns of those 2 diseases have been demonstrated in histopathology. The aim was to demonstrate the different iron-deposition patterns of MSA-P and IPD by using SWI phase images.

Eu(II)-containing cryptates as contrast agents for ultra-high field strength magnetic resonance imaging.

The relaxivity (contrast-enhancing ability) of Eu(II)-containing cryptates was found to be better than a clinically approved Gd(III)-based agent at 7 T. These cryptates are among a few examples of paramagnetic substances that show an increase in longitudinal relaxivity, r(1), at ultra-high field strength relative to lower field strengths.

Mapping of cerebral oxygen extraction fraction changes with susceptibility-weighted phase imaging.

Purpose: To develop a map to detect changes in oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) utilizing susceptibility-weighted (SW) phase images and to correlate such changes in OEF with those in cerebral blood flow (CBF).

Materials And Methods: The study protocol was approved by the institutional review board, and written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. Eight healthy volunteers (mean age ± standard deviation, 29.

Blast-induced tinnitus and hearing loss in rats: behavioral and imaging assays.

Abstract The current study used a rat model to investigate the underlying mechanisms of blast-induced tinnitus, hearing loss, and associated traumatic brain injury (TBI). Seven rats were used to evaluate behavioral evidence of tinnitus and hearing loss, and TBI using magnetic resonance imaging following a single 10-msec blast at 14 psi or 194 dB sound pressure level (SPL). The results demonstrated that the blast exposure induced early onset of tinnitus and central hearing impairment at a broad frequency range.

Improving detection of siderotic nodules in cirrhotic liver with a multi-breath-hold susceptibility-weighted imaging technique.

Purpose: To evaluate the role of abdominal susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) in the detection of siderotic nodules in cirrhotic liver.

Materials And Methods: Forty patients with pathologically identified liver cirrhosis and 40 age/sex-matched normal controls underwent T1-, T2-, T2*-weighted imaging and SWI at 3T. Two radiologists prospectively analyzed all magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies.

Cortical calcification in Sturge-Weber Syndrome on MRI-SWI: relation to brain perfusion status and seizure severity.

Purpose: To determine the relationship between calcified cortex and perfusion status of white matter and seizure severity in patients with Sturge-Weber Syndrome (SWS), a sporadic neurocutaneous disorder characterized by a leptomeningeal angioma, progressive brain ischemia, and a high incidence of seizures using susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) and dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced perfusion weighted imaging (DSC-PWI).

Materials And Methods: Fifteen children (ages: 0.9-10 years) with unilateral SWS prospectively underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Recent developments in imaging of multiple sclerosis.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has revolutionized the diagnosis and management of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Metrics derived from conventional MRI are now routinely used to detect therapeutic effects and extend clinical observations. Conventional MRI measures have insufficient sensitivity and specificity to reveal the true degree of pathologic changes occurring in MS.

Semiautomated detection of cerebral microbleeds in magnetic resonance images.

Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are increasingly being recognized as an important biomarker for neurovascular diseases. So far, all attempts to count and quantify them have relied on manual methods that are time-consuming and can be inconsistent. A technique is presented that semiautomatically identifies CMBs in susceptibility weighted images (SWI).

Monitoring sunitinib-induced vascular effects to optimize radiotherapy combined with soy isoflavones in murine xenograft tumor.

Using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) to monitor vascular changes induced by sunitinib within a murine xenograft kidney tumor, we previously determined a dose that caused only partial destruction of blood vessels leading to "normalization" of tumor vasculature and improved blood flow. In the current study, kidney tumors were treated with this dose of sunitinib to modify the tumor microenvironment and enhance the effect of kidney tumor irradiation. The addition of soy isoflavones to this combined antiangiogenic and radiotherapy approach was investigated based on our studies demonstrating that soy isoflavones can potentiate the radiation effect on the tumors and act as antioxidants to protect normal tissues from treatment-induced toxicity.

Susceptibility weighted imaging in detecting hemorrhage in acute cervical spinal cord injury.

Background And Purpose: Susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) is sensitive to deoxyhemoglobin and blood products such as hemosiderin in detecting microbleeds in the brain. However, there are no studies on SWI in the spine cord injury so far. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of SWI in detecting hemorrhage in acute cervical spinal cord injury (SCI).

Common data elements in radiologic imaging of traumatic brain injury.

Radiologic brain imaging is the most useful means of visualizing and categorizing the location, nature, and degree of damage to the central nervous system sustained by patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). In addition to determining acute patient management and prognosis, imaging is crucial for the characterization and classification of injuries for natural history studies and clinical trials. This article is the initial result of a workshop convened by multiple national health care agencies in March 2009 to begin to make recommendations for potential data elements dealing with specific radiologic features and definitions needed to characterize injuries, as well as specific techniques and parameters needed to optimize radiologic data acquisition.

Differential effects of age and history of hypertension on regional brain volumes and iron.

Aging affects various structural and metabolic properties of the brain. However, associations among various aspects of brain aging are unclear. Moreover, those properties and associations among them may be modified by age-associated increase in vascular risk.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of sunitinib-induced vascular changes to schedule chemotherapy in renal cell carcinoma xenograft tumors.

In an attempt to develop better therapeutic approaches for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the combination of the antiangiogenic drug sunitinib with gemcitabine was studied. Using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), we have previously determined that a sunitinib dosage of 20 mg/kg per day increased kidney tumor perfusion and decreased vascular permeability in a preclinical murine RCC model. This sunitinib dosage causing regularization of tumor vessels was selected to improve delivery of gemcitabine to the tumor.

Susceptibility mapping as a means to visualize veins and quantify oxygen saturation.

Purpose: To create an orientation-independent, 3D reconstruction of the veins in the brain using susceptibility mapping.

Materials And Methods: High-resolution, high-pass filtered phase images usually used for susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) were used as a source for local magnetic field behavior. These images were subsequently postprocessed using an inverse procedure to generate susceptibility maps of the veins.