Publications by authors named "Abernethy L"

Objective: Investigate the performance of qualitative review (QR) for assessing dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC-) MRI data quality in paediatric normal brain and develop an automated alternative to QR.

Methods: 1027 signal-time courses were assessed by Reviewer 1 using QR. 243 were additionally assessed by Reviewer 2 and % disagreements and Cohen's κ (κ) were calculated.

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Individuals belonging to ethnic minority groups are less likely to experience symptoms of psychosis, such as paranoia, if they live in areas with high proportions of people from the same ethnic background. This effect may be due to processes associated with group belonging (social identification). We examined whether the relationship between perceived discrimination and paranoia was moderated by explicit and implicit Pakistani/English identification among students of Pakistani heritage (N = 119).

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Background: Relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) measured using dynamic susceptibility-contrast MRI can differentiate between low- and high-grade pediatric brain tumors. Multicenter studies are required for translation into clinical practice.

Objective: We compared leakage-corrected dynamic susceptibility-contrast MRI perfusion parameters acquired at multiple centers in low- and high-grade pediatric brain tumors.

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Article Synopsis
  • MRS (Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy) combined with machine learning shows high accuracy in diagnosing childhood brain tumors, particularly when selecting the right metabolites for classification.
  • The study evaluates metabolite selection for tumors like ependymoma, medulloblastoma, and pilocytic astrocytoma, using data from various patient cohorts and comparing different methods for analyzing metabolite concentrations.
  • Key metabolites identified as crucial for tumor classification include myo-inositol, total lipids, and glycine, with improved classification accuracy—up to 85%—when these metabolites are used instead of traditional principal component analysis.
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H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides noninvasive metabolite profiles with the potential to aid the diagnosis of brain tumours. Prospective studies of diagnostic accuracy and comparisons with conventional MRI are lacking. The aim of the current study was to evaluate, prospectively, the diagnostic accuracy of a previously established classifier for diagnosing the three major childhood cerebellar tumours, and to determine added value compared with standard reporting of conventional imaging.

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Brain tumors represent the highest cause of mortality in the pediatric oncological population. Diagnosis is commonly performed with magnetic resonance imaging. Survival biomarkers are challenging to identify due to the relatively low numbers of individual tumor types.

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Objective: Historically, studies have shown that cranial remolding therapy improves surgical correction and protects against regression for patients with sagittal suture craniosynostosis. This study aimed to define the most responsive cranial height for measuring cephalic index (CI) following cranial remolding therapy for infants with sagittal suture craniosynostosis.

Methods: The authors performed a retrospective analysis of data between January 2018 and August 2019.

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To determine if apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) can discriminate between posterior fossa brain tumours on a multicentre basis. A total of 124 paediatric patients with posterior fossa tumours (including 55 Medulloblastomas, 36 Pilocytic Astrocytomas and 26 Ependymomas) were scanned using diffusion weighted imaging across 12 different hospitals using a total of 18 different scanners. Apparent diffusion coefficient maps were produced and histogram data was extracted from tumour regions of interest.

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Approximately 75% of xenobiotics are primarily eliminated through metabolism; thus the accurate scaling of metabolic clearance is vital to successful drug development. Yet, when data is scaled from in vitro to in vivo, hepatic metabolic clearance, the primary source of metabolism, is still commonly underpredicted. Over the past decades, with biophysics used as a key component to restore aspects of the in vivo environment, several new cell culture settings have been investigated to improve hepatocyte functionalities.

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The imaging and subsequent accurate diagnosis of paediatric brain tumours presents a radiological challenge, with magnetic resonance imaging playing a key role in providing tumour specific imaging information. Diffusion weighted and perfusion imaging are commonly used to aid the non-invasive diagnosis of children's brain tumours, but are usually evaluated by expert qualitative review. Quantitative studies are mainly single centre and single modality.

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Background: In neonatal encephalopathy, the clinical manifestations of injury can only be reliably assessed several years after an intervention, complicating early prognostication and rendering trials of promising neuroprotectants slow and expensive. We aimed to determine the accuracy of thalamic proton magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy (MRS) biomarkers as early predictors of the neurodevelopmental abnormalities observed years after neonatal encephalopathy.

Methods: We did a prospective multicentre cohort study across eight neonatal intensive care units in the UK and USA, recruiting term and near-term neonates who received therapeutic hypothermia for neonatal encephalopathy.

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Background: The intraoperative magnetic resonance scanner (ioMR) was introduced in our unit in 2009, and has been used routinely since then.

Objective: This study aims to describe indications, radiological features, and clinical outcomes of the patients operated on with ioMRI and analyze our experience.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of a prospective surgical database has been performed, including surgical procedure, intent, radiological reports, need for second-look surgery, and complications, supplemented by further review of the clinical notes and the scans.

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Objective: To report the management and outcome of paediatric patients sustaining high-grade blunt renal trauma.

Patients And Methods: Medical records were examined for all American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) grade III-V blunt renal trauma cases admitted to a paediatric trauma centre from 2005 to 2015. Data collected and analysed included: demographics, imaging modalities, management, length of hospital stay (LOS), complications, and follow-up outcomes.

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Purpose: 3T magnetic resonance scanners have boosted clinical application of H-MR spectroscopy (MRS) by offering an improved signal-to-noise ratio and increased spectral resolution, thereby identifying more metabolites and extending the range of metabolic information. Spectroscopic data from clinical 1.5T MR scanners has been shown to discriminate between pediatric brain tumors by applying machine learning techniques to further aid diagnosis.

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Objective: Arterial spin-labelling (ASL) MRI uses intrinsic blood water to quantify the cerebral blood flow (CBF), removing the need for the injection of a gadolinium-based contrast agent used for conventional perfusion imaging such as dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC). Owing to the non-invasive nature of the technique, ASL is an attractive option for use in paediatric patients. This work compared DSC and multi-timepoint ASL measures of CBF in paediatric brain tumours.

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Introduction: Despite cooling, adverse outcomes are seen in up to half of the surviving infants after neonatal encephalopathy. A number of novel adjunct drug therapies with cooling have been shown to be highly neuroprotective in animal studies, and are currently awaiting clinical translation. Rigorous evaluation of these therapies in phase II trials using surrogate MR biomarkers may speed up their bench to bedside translation.

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Objective: To gather data on radiation doses from fluoroscopically guided cardiac catheterization procedures in patients aged under 22 years at multiple centres and over a prolonged period in the UK. To evaluate and explain variation in doses. To estimate patient-specific organ doses and allow for possible future epidemiological analysis of associated cancer risks.

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Background: Posterior fossa syndrome (PFS) is an important complication of posterior fossa surgery in children. The pathophysiology of this condition remains unclear, but there is evidence implicating surgical injury of the proximal efferent cerebellar pathway (pECP) and the cerebellar vermis to PFS. We aimed to evaluate if diffusion abnormalities involving these structures on the final intraoperative MRI can predict the development of PFS.

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Background: Open surgical biopsy is traditionally advocated prior to initiating therapy in UKCCLG neuroblastoma protocols. We report a single centre experience comparing the utility of open biopsy vs image guided needle biopsy in aiding the definitive diagnosis and risk stratification of neuroblastoma - (Shimada classification, MYCN expression, cytogenetics - 1p 11q, 17 q).

Methods: Medical records of all new cases of neuroblastoma presenting to a single UKCCLG centre during January 2002-July 2013 were examined.

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Among the high bone mass disorders, the osteopetroses reflect osteoclast failure that prevents skeletal resorption and turnover, leading to reduced bone growth and modeling and characteristic histopathological and radiographic findings. We report an 11-year-old boy with a new syndrome that radiographically mimics osteopetrosis (OPT), but features rapid skeletal turnover. He presented at age 21 months with a parasellar, osteoclast-rich giant cell granuloma.

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Background: In order to assess relationships between thyroid hormone status and findings on brain MRI, a subset of babies was recruited to a multi-centre randomised, placebo-controlled trial of levothyroxine (LT4) supplementation for babies born before 28 weeks' gestation (known as the TIPIT study, for Thyroxine supplementation In Preterm InfanTs). These infants were imaged at term-equivalence.

Materials And Methods: Forty-five TIPIT participants had brain MRI using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to estimate white matter development by apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), fractional anisotropy (FA) and tractography metrics of number and length of streamlines.

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Background: There is a paucity of information about parental perceptions of clinical research in children, particularly in the emergency department (ED) setting.

Methods: Parents accompanying their child to the ED completed a self-administered survey gauging perceptions of research and willingness to enroll a child in a clinical research study. Factor analysis was used to correlate survey responses into domains representing parents' feeling about participation in a research study.

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Introduction: We report the case of a 2-year-old boy with suspected meningitis who presented with acute onset neck pain and stiffness associated with right-sided weakness and ataxia.

Management: Despite intravenous antibiotics and antiviral treatment, his condition deteriorated. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated spontaneous cervical epidural haematoma (C4-C7) extending down to thoracic (T7) level with associated compression of the spinal cord.

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