Publications by authors named "Renzo Manara"

Background: Regorafenib is an oral multi-tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitor. It exhibits high selectivity for VEGFR1/2/3, while also inhibiting PDGFRβ, FGFR1, and oncogenic signaling cascades involving c-RAF/RAF1 and BRAF. These pathways are highly expressed in meningiomas, particularly in high-grade meningiomas.

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Rotating frame relaxation (RFR) techniques provide robust and sensitive quantitative MRI (qMRI) metrics able to detect subtle alterations of brain tissue integrity in multiple neurological disorders. We performed a cross-sectional qMRI study in 16 patients with Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and 14 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The MRI protocol included the acquisition of RFR metrics, namely adiabatic T1ρ and T2ρ relaxation time constants, along with the acquisition of conventional relaxation metrics, namely R1 and R2*, and a semi-quantitative metric describing magnetization transfer (MT).

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Background: Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) represents a serious, life-threatening complication of primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS), a thrombophilic disorder mainly characterized by vascular thrombosis and/or pregnancy morbidity. Risk factors for DAH in PAPS patients and the comorbidities that may trigger DAH were investigated here in the effort to identify possible independent predictors of DAH in PAPS patients.

Methods: Only PAPS patients fulfilling the Sydney criteria were taken into consideration.

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Background And Purpose: Craniosynostoses are rare congenital craniofacial malformations, variably affected by hearing loss, often requiring repeated CT examinations to assess skull or temporal bone (TB) abnormalities. In order to avoid radiation exposure in these young patients, efforts are made to assess the skull abnormalities on MR bone imaging sequences, such as Black Bone (BB). Our aim is to compare BB, a radiation-free imaging technique, with CT for the assessment of the TB.

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Transient or persistent hypo-anosmia is common in SARS‑CoV‑2 infection but olfactory pathway late-term morphometric changes are still under investigation. We evaluated late olfactory bulb (OB) imaging changes and their correlates with the olfactory function in otherwise neurologically asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. Eighty-three subjects (mean-age 43 ± 14 yr; 54 females; time-interval infection/MRI: 129±68 d) were affected by asymptomatic to mild COVID-19 in 2020 and 25 healthy controls (mean-age 40 ± 13 yr; 9 females) underwent 3T-MRI and olfactory function evaluation through anamnestic questionnaire and Sniffin' Sticks.

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Article Synopsis
  • Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) causes issues like drug-resistant epilepsy and intellectual disabilities due to abnormal cortical structures like cortical tubers.
  • * The study aimed to investigate the gyrification index (GI) as a potential indicator of TSC severity, analyzing MRI data of 45 TSC patients and 42 healthy controls.
  • * Results showed that TSC patients had a higher GI, which correlated with neurological impairments, epilepsy, and other disorders, suggesting GI could serve as a valuable prognostic tool for characterizing TSC.
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Article Synopsis
  • Phenylketonuria is a genetic disorder due to a lack of the phenylalanine hydroxylase enzyme, leading to high levels of phenylalanine in the blood, which can result in neurological issues and cognitive dysfunction if not treated with a low-phenylalanine diet.
  • Pegvaliase is an FDA-approved treatment that helps lower phenylalanine levels in adults with the condition, even when they are not on a restricted diet.
  • A study on three adults treated with pegvaliase showed notable improvements in brain MRI results, indicating reduced white matter damage, and enhanced cognitive performance, specifically on tasks sensitive to brain function, marking a significant milestone in treatment outcomes for this disorder.
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Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are a group of inherited metabolic diseases caused by dysfunction of the lysosomal system, with subsequent progressive accumulation of macromolecules, activation of inflammatory response, and cell death. Neurologic damage is almost always present, and it is usually degenerative. White matter (WM) involvement may be primary or secondary.

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White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are considered magnetic brain imaging (MRI) biomarkers of cerebral small vessel disease but their clinical role in neurodegenerative-related disorders is poorly understood. This study describes the distribution of WMH on brain MRI in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) in comparison with Parkinson's disease (PD) and explores their possible impact on disease's features. Sixty PSP and 33 PD patients were included.

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In high-grade gliomas, pseudoprogression after radiation treatment might dramatically impact patient's management. We searched for perioperative imaging predictors of pseudoprogression in high-grade gliomas according to PRISMA guidelines, using MEDLINE/Pubmed and Embase (until January 2024). Study design, sample size, setting, diagnostic gold standard, imaging modalities and contrasts, and differences among variables or measures of diagnostic accuracy were recorded.

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Background: Brain injury in hereditary hemoglobinopathies is commonly attributed to anemia-related relative hypoperfusion in terms of impaired oxygen blood supply. Supratentorial and infratentorial vascular watershed regions seem to be especially vulnerable, but data are very scarce.

Aims: We investigated a large beta-thalassemia sample with arterial spin labeling in order to characterize regional perfusion changes and their correlation with phenotype and anemia severity.

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Background: Despite numerous studies, the true scenario of hearing loss in beta-thalassaemia remains rather nebulous.

Materials And Methods: Pure tone audiometry, chelation therapy, demographics and laboratory data of 376 patients (mean age 38.5 ± 16.

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Introduction: Since December 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has affected millions of people, causing the COVID-19 global pandemic. The use of novel technologies led to the development of different types of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines that have reduced severe disease courses and related deaths. Besides the positive impact of vaccination on the pandemic, local and systemic side effects have been reported; they are usually mild to moderate, although also serious adverse events have been described.

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Ependymomas are rare glial tumors with clinical and biological heterogeneity, categorized into supratentorial ependymoma, posterior fossa ependymoma, and spinal cord ependymoma, according to anatomical localization. Spinal ependymoma comprises four different types: spinal ependymoma, spinal ependymoma -amplified, myxopapillary ependymoma, and subependymoma. The clinical onset largely depends on the spinal location of the tumor.

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The role of intercalatus nucleus of Staderini (INS), the most caudal of the perihypoglossal nuclei, is much debated. Last research seems to suggest that this nucleus plays a role as a vertical eyes movements integrator. The few clinical reports present in the literature that describe isolated lesions of the INS have described patients presenting in acute with up-beating vertical spontaneous nystagmus.

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Objective: To investigate brain MRI abnormalities in a cohort of patients with rapidly progressive dementia (RPD) with and without a diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

Methods: One hundred and seven patients with diagnosis of prion disease (60 with definite sCJD, 33 with probable sCJD and 14 with genetic prion disease) and 40 non-prion related RPD patients (npRPD) underwent brain MRI including DWI and FLAIR. MRIs were evaluated with a semiquantitative rating score, which separately considered abnormal signal extent and intensity in 22 brain regions.

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Neuropsychiatric symptoms are intrinsic to Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and a spoonful of studies investigated their imaging correlates. Describe (I) the frequency and severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms in PSP and (II) their structural imaging correlates. Twenty-six PSP patients underwent Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and brain 3D T1-weighted MRI.

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Facial emotion recognition (FER), including sadness, is altered in bipolar disorder (BD). However, the relationship between this impairment and the brain structure in BD is relatively unexplored. Furthermore, its association with clinical variables and with the subtypes of BD remains to be clarified.

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Context: Cushing's disease (CD) is rare condition burdened by several systemic complications correlated to higher mortality rates. The primary goal of clinicians is to achieve remission, but it is unclear if treatment can also increase life expectancy.

Aim: To assess the prevalence of cortisol-related complications and mortality in a large cohort of CD patients attending a single referral centre.

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Background: Cervical artery dissection (CeAD) causing a large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke might represent a procedural challenge for mechanical thrombectomy (MT) impacting on its effects. The aim of the present study was to analyze safety, reperfusion rates, and clinical outcome of patients with CeAD treated by MT and compare these results with those obtained in non-CeAD patients.

Methods: All consecutive LVO stroke patients undergoing MT between June 2015 and June 2021 at our University Stroke Center were analyzed.

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