Correlation of clinical findings and brain volume data in multiple sclerosis.

Brain volume measurements are becoming an important tool for assessing success in controlling multiple sclerosis (MS) activity. MSmetrix (icometrix) is an easy-to-use platform, specific for MS magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. It provides data on total brain volume, grey matter volume and lesion load volume.

Idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system in children.

Idiopathic inflammatory demyelinating disorders of the central nervous system usually present with a typical morphologic pattern in adults, with multiple sclerosis as the predominant disorder. However, the variety of disorders in children has an odd range of features that have piqued the interest of researchers. Information concerning this group of diseases, both in vivo and in different age groups, has particularly progressed with the advent of magnetic resonance imaging in the last few decades.

Diffusion MR imaging for monitoring treatment response.

The objective of this article was to emphasize the use of diffusion-weighted imaging in the diagnosis and follow-up of several major disease contexts, as established in recent literature. In some of these diseases the diffusion changes are correlated with the clinical deficit and are potentially useful for early diagnosis and longitudinal evaluation, as well as in the context of pharmacologic trials. Diffusion magnetic resonance is a major advance in the continuing evolution of MR imaging.

Delay in the diagnosis of leprosy in the Metropolitan Region of Vitória, Brazil.

This paper reports on the time between the onset of the first lesion and diagnosis, defined as delay, and is based on results obtained by interviewers from a survey carried out amongst 450 leprosy patients in a leprosy endemic area in the Metropolitan Region of Vitória (MRV), state of Espirito Santo, Brazil. The mean age at diagnosis in all cases was 41.47 years and the median was 42.

Characteristics of known leprosy contact in a high endemic area in Brazil.

Background And Purpose: The annual number of new cases of leprosy has not declined in Brazil over the last 15 years, indicating that transmission continues at the same level. To study transmission, we interviewed leprosy patients about their known leprosy contact (KLC).

Methods: Clinical and demographic data were collected from 506 leprosy patients in four health units in the Metropolitan Region of Vitŕia, State of Espírito Santo, Brazil.