Hemorrhagic Plaques in Mild Carotid Stenosis: The Risk of Stroke.

Objectives: Embolic ischemic strokes cause significant mortality and morbidity worldwide. It has been proposed that some of these strokes are due to unstable carotid plaques with intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) but a low overall degree of stenosis. Our aim was to test a fat-saturated T1-weighted (T1WI) black-blood sequence on MRI for the detection of IPH in symptomatic individuals and to quantify the relation between IPH, severity of stenoses, and ischemic brain lesions.

How patient-specific do internal carotid artery inflow rates need to be for computational fluid dynamics of cerebral aneurysms?

Background: Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become a popular tool for studying 'patient-specific' blood flow dynamics in cerebral aneurysms; however, rarely are the inflow boundary conditions patient-specific. We aimed to test the impact of widespread reliance on generalized inflow rates.

Methods: Internal carotid artery (ICA) flow rates were measured via 2D cine phase-contrast MRI for 24 patients scheduled for endovascular therapy of an ICA aneurysm.

Feasibility of synthetic MRI in knee imaging in routine practice.

Background: Synthetic magnetic resonance (MR) is a method allowing reduction of examination time and access to quantitative imaging.

Purpose: This study sought to assess the image quality and diagnostic accuracy of synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared to standard MRI in patients with knee pain.

Material And Methods: In total, 22 patients underwent standard 1.

Diffusion in prostate cancer detection on a 3T scanner: How many b-values are needed?

Purpose: To assess the influence of perfusion on apparent coefficient diffusion (ADC) maps, the contribution of b-value images, and the number of b-values needed in prostate cancer detection by diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI).

Materials And Methods: Patients scheduled for prostatectomy were scanned by 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with DWI based on b-values 0-500-1000-1500 s/mm(2) . A monoexponential model was fitted to obtain ADC using multiple b-values, with or without b0 (perfusion-sensitive ADC4b-b0-500-1000-1500 , perfusion-insensitive ADC3b-b500-1000-1500 ), or two b-values (ADC2b-b0-500 , ADC2b-b0-1000 , ADC2b-b0-1500 ).

Orbital tumours and tumour-like lesions: exploring the armamentarium of multiparametric imaging.

Although the orbit is a small anatomical space, the wide range of structures present within it are often the site of origin of various tumours and tumour-like conditions, both in adults and children. Cross-sectional imaging is mandatory for the detection, characterization, and mapping of these lesions. This review focuses on multiparametric imaging of orbital tumours.

Clinical utility of 18F-FDG-PET/MR for preoperative breast cancer staging.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MR) for preoperative breast cancer staging.

Methods: Preoperative PET/MR exams of 58 consecutive women with breast cancer were retrospectively reviewed. Histology and mean follow-up of 26 months served as gold standard.

In vivo free-breathing DTI and IVIM of the whole human heart using a real-time slice-followed SE-EPI navigator-based sequence: A reproducibility study in healthy volunteers.

Purpose: In this study, we proposed an efficient free-breathing strategy for rapid and improved cardiac diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) acquisition using a single-shot spin-echo echo planar imaging (SE-EPI) sequence.

Methods: A real-time slice-following technique during free-breathing was combined with a sliding acquisition-window strategy prior Principal Component Analysis temporal Maximum Intensity Projection (PCAtMIP) postprocessing of in-plane co-registered diffusion-weighted images. This methodology was applied to 10 volunteers to quantify the performance of the motion correction technique and the reproducibility of diffusion parameters.

Hybrid PET/MRI as a tool to detect brown adipose tissue: Proof of principle.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of (18)F-FDG hybrid PET/MRI to detect and localise the presence of metabolically active brown adipose tissue (BAT).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 197 consecutive (18)F-flurodeoxyglucose ((18)F-FDG) positron-emission tomographic (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images performed with a hybrid whole-body PET-MRI tomography in 192 patients. These patients were originally investigated mainly for oncological staging, in the absence of a cooling protocol.

PET/MR in Breast Cancer.

Breast cancer is an international public health concern in which an optimal treatment plan requires a precise staging. Both MRI and PET imaging techniques have made significant progress in the last decades with constant improvements that made both modalities clinically relevant in several stages of breast cancer management and follow-up. On one hand, specific breast MRI permits high diagnostic accuracy for local tumor staging, and whole-body MRI can also be of great use in distant staging, eventually accompanied by organ-specific MRI sequences.

All-in-one interictal presurgical imaging in patients with epilepsy: single-session EEG/PET/(f)MRI.

Purpose: In patients with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy, resection of the epileptic focus can lead to freedom from seizures or significant improvement in well-selected candidates. Localization of the epileptic focus with multimodal concordance is crucial for a good postoperative outcome. Beyond the detection of epileptogenic lesions on structural MRI and focal hypometabolism on FDG PET, EEG-based Electric Source Imaging (ESI) and simultaneous EEG and functional MRI (EEG-fMRI) are increasingly applied for mapping epileptic activity.

90Yttrium PET/MR-based dosimetry after liver radioembolization (SIRT).

Biodistribution and dosimetric aspects are important issues in the preparation realization of radionuclide therapies and thus play an emerging role in radioembolization of liver malignancies. Biodistribution assessment of liver selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) has been shown feasible using PET/CT PET/magnetic resonance (MR). Whereas prospective dosimetry using 99mTc macroaggregated albumin SPECT/CT is discussed controversially, retrospective 90Y PET/CT has been shown feasible for dosimetry of SIRT in recent studies.

Assessment of intra-aneurysmal flow modification after flow diverter stent placement with four-dimensional flow MRI: a feasibility study.

Background: Flow diverter stents (FDS) have been effectively used for the endovascular treatment of sidewall intracranial aneurysms (IAs). Unlike standard endovascular treatments used to exclude directly the aneurysm bulge from the parent vessel, FDS induce reduction in the intra-aneurysmal flow and promote progressive and stable thrombosis therein. The advent of FDS has therefore increased the need for understanding of IA hemodynamics.

Free-breathing diffusion tensor imaging and tractography of the human heart in healthy volunteers using wavelet-based image fusion.

Free-breathing cardiac diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a promising but challenging technique for the study of fiber structures of the human heart in vivo. This work proposes a clinically compatible and robust technique to provide three-dimensional (3-D) fiber architecture properties of the human heart. To this end, 10 short-axis slices were acquired across the entire heart using a multiple shifted trigger delay (TD) strategy under free breathing conditions.

Detection and quantification of focal uptake in head and neck tumours: (18)F-FDG PET/MR versus PET/CT.

Purpose: Our objectives were to assess the quality of PET images and coregistered anatomic images obtained with PET/MR, to evaluate the detection of focal uptake and SUV, and to compare these findings with those of PET/CT in patients with head and neck tumours.

Methods: The study group comprised 32 consecutive patients with malignant head and neck tumours who underwent whole-body (18)F-FDG PET/MR and PET/CT. PET images were reconstructed using the attenuation correction sequence for PET/MR and CT for PET/CT.

Assessment of cardiac motion effects on the fiber architecture of the human heart in vivo.

The use of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for studying the human heart in vivo is very challenging due to cardiac motion. This paper assesses the effects of cardiac motion on the human myocardial fiber architecture. To this end, a model for analyzing the effects of cardiac motion on signal intensity is presented.

In vivo cardiac diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging: quantification of normal perfusion and diffusion coefficients with intravoxel incoherent motion imaging.

Objectives: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and the introduction of the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model have provided a unique method for evaluating perfusion and diffusion within a tissue without the need for a contrast agent. Despite its relevance, cardiac DWI has thus far been limited by low b values because of signal loss induced by physiological motion. The goal of this study was to develop a methodology for estimating IVIM parameters of in vivo cardiac magnetic resonance imaging using an efficient DWI acquisition framework.

Sequential whole-body PET/MR scanner: concept, clinical use, and optimisation after two years in the clinic. The manufacturer's perspective.

PET and MRI are established clinical tools which provide complementary information, but clinical workflow limits widespread clinical application of both modalities in combination. The two modalities are usually situated in different hospital departments and operated and reported independently, and patients are referred for both scans, often consecutively. With the advent of PET/MR as a new hybrid imaging modality there is now a possibility of addressing these concerns.

High time-resolved cardiac functional imaging using temporal regularization for small animal on a clinical 3T scanner.

Accurate assessment of mice cardiac function with magnetic resonance imaging is essential for longitudinal studies and for drug development related to cardiovascular diseases. Whereas dedicated small animal MR scanners are not readily available, it would be a great advantage to be able to perform cardiac assessment on clinical systems, in particular, in the context of translational research. However, mouse imaging remains challenging since it requires both high spatial and temporal resolutions, while gradient performances of clinical scanners often limit the reachable parameters.

Head-to-head comparison of eight late gadolinium-enhanced cardiac MR (LGE CMR) sequences at 1.5 tesla: from bench to bedside.

Purpose: To compare-theoretically and experimentally-clinically available two-dimensional/three-dimensional (2D/3D), breathhold and non-breathhold, inversion-recovery (IR) gradient-echo (GRE) sequences used to differentiate between nonviable injured and normal myocardium with late gadolinium-enhanced techniques (IR-GRE2D sequence is used as a reference), and to evaluate their respective clinical benefit.

Materials And Methods: Six breathhold (2D-IR-GRE, 3D-IR-GRE, balanced steady-state free precession 2D-IR-bSSFP and 3D-IR-bSSFP, phase-sensitive 2D-PSIR-GRE, and 2D-PSIR-bSSFP) and two non-breathhold late gadolinium-enhanced techniques (single-shot 2D-ssbSSFP and 2D-PSIR-ssbSSFP) were consecutively performed in 32 coronary artery disease patients with chronic myocardial infarction. Qualitative assessment and manual planimetry were performed by two independent observers.

Manganese kinetics demonstrated double contrast in acute but not in chronic infarction in a mouse model of myocardial occlusion reperfusion.

Manganese (Mn(2+)) is considered as a specific MRI contrast agent that enters viable cardiomyocytes through calcium pathways. Compared to extracellular gadolinium based contrast agents, it has the potential to assess cell viability. To date, only information from the washout phase after recirculation has been used for the detection and characterization of myocardial infarct.

CC chemokine CCL5 plays a central role impacting infarct size and post-infarction heart failure in mice.

Aims: The chemokine CCL5 plays a critical role as neutrophil and macrophage activator do in atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction. Thus, we investigated whether the treatment with a neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) to mouse CCL5 would provide therapeutic benefit when provoking a coronary-associated ischaemic event.

Methods And Results: C57Bl/6 mice were submitted to left coronary artery permanent ligature.

Spiral demystified.

Spiral acquisition schemes offer unique advantages such as flow compensation, efficient k-space sampling and robustness against motion that make this option a viable choice among other non-Cartesian sampling schemes. For this reason, the main applications of spiral imaging lie in dynamic magnetic resonance imaging such as cardiac imaging and functional brain imaging. However, these advantages are counterbalanced by practical difficulties that render spiral imaging quite challenging.

Myocardial infarction quantification with Manganese-Enhanced MRI (MEMRI) in mice using a 3T clinical scanner.

Manganese (Mn(2+)) was recognized early as an efficient intracellular MR contrast agent to assess cardiomyocyte viability. It had previously been used for the assessment of myocardial infarction in various animal models from pig to mouse. However, whether Manganese-Enhanced MRI (MEMRI) is also able to assess infarction in the acute phase of a coronary occlusion reperfusion model in mice has not yet been demonstrated.