Smaller hippocampal volume in APOE ε4 carriers independent of amyloid-β (Aβ) burden.

Objective: To investigate the association of the APOE ε4 genotype with hippocampal volume, independent of Aβ burden.

Method: This cross-sectional study included 71 participants with mild cognitive impairment or mild AD. All participants were divided into carriers or non-carriers of the ε4 allele.

Development of a Phosphor Screen with Mirror Coating to Improve Optical Properties in Radiography.

Phosphor screens have attracted increasing global interest because they can aid the acquisition of high-quality images while simultaneously reducing exposure. However, although increasing the thickness of the phosphor screen increases exposure efficiency due to scattered light, it also leads to a broader light spread, which results in poorer resolution. Hence, in this study, we implemented a reflector using a mirror-coating technique on the surface of a phosphor screen and analyzed its characteristics in terms of luminescence intensity and resolution.

Quantitative Validation of a Visual Rating Scale for Defining High-Iron Putamen in Patients With Multiple System Atrophy.

To validate a visual rating scale reflecting sub-regional patterns of putaminal hypointensity in susceptibility-weighted imaging of patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA). Using a visual rating scale (from G0 to G3), 2 examiners independently rated putaminal hypointensities of 37 MSA patients and 21 control subjects. To investigate the correlation with the scales, R2 values and the volume of the entire putamen were measured.

Speculating the timing of iron deposition in the putamen in multiple system atrophy.

Background & Objective: Although iron accumulation is thought to be associated with neurodegenerative processes, the timing of putaminal iron deposition during the disease course of multiple system atrophy (MSA) remains unclear. We sought to investigate the temporal pattern of iron deposition in the putamen of MSA patients by calculating the conditional probabilities (CPs) of multimodal MRI changes.

Methods: We simultaneously measured putaminal R2*, volume and MD values of 39 probable MSA patients and 22 control subjects.

Reduction of ipsilateral thalamic volume in temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis.

The thalamus plays an important role in the modulation of both focal and generalized seizures, but the mechanisms related to seizures may be different among epilepsy syndromes. The aim of this study is to investigate the thalamic atrophy in different epilepsy syndromes. We enrolled a total of 72 patients with epilepsy (22 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis, 21 patients with extra-temporal lobe epilepsy, and 29 patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy).

Spatial correlation and segregation of multimodal MRI abnormalities in multiple system atrophy.

Objective: The variability of the severity and regional distribution of pathological process in basal ganglia (BG) and brainstem-cerebellar systems results in clinical heterogeneity and represents the motor subtype of multiple system atrophy (MSA). This study aimed to quantify spatial patterns of multimodal MRI abnormalities in BG and stem-CB regions and define structural MRI findings that correlate with clinical characteristics.

Methods: We simultaneously measured R2*, mean diffusivity (MD), and volume in the subcortical structures (BG, thalamus, brainstem-cerebellar regions) of 39 probable MSA and 22 control subjects.

Feasibility Study of Phosphor Screen Containing Nano-Scale Anti-Reflection Layer for Improved Optical Properties in Indirect X-ray Detector.

With increasingly strict regulations regarding patient exposure, research on digital radiography technology has recently focused on indirect methods that can produce high-quality images for a low radiation dose. In particular, medical imaging systems based on indirect methods universally use rare-earth metal phosphors, because of their high atomic number and excellent luminescence efficiency. Thus, various studies aiming to improve the luminescence efficiency of phosphors have been conducted.

Distinguishing tendon and ligament fibroblasts based on H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Tendon and ligament (T/L) have been known to be obviously different from each other in tissue level. However, due to the overlapping gene markers, distinction in cellular level has not been clearly verified yet. Recently, the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has shown the potential to detect biological markers in cellular level.

Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy may be a disorder of cortex rather than thalamus: An effective connectivity analysis.

Although juvenile myoclonic epilepsy has been considered as a disorder of thalamo-cortical circuit, it is not determined the causality relationship between thalamus and cortex. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether juvenile myoclonic epilepsy is a disorder of thalamus or cortex. Twenty-nine patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and 20 normal controls were enrolled in this study.

Decreased gray matter volume is associated with the subtypes of psychotic symptoms in patients with antipsychotic-naïve mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease: A voxel-based morphometry study.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between brain regional gray matter volume and two subtypes of psychotic symptoms, namely paranoid and misidentification subtypes, in antipsychotic-naïve mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Forty AD patients with psychotic symptoms and 25 AD patients without psychotic symptoms were assessed for cognitive and functional impairment. Presence and subtype of psychotic symptoms were assessed by using the delusion and hallucination subscale of the Korean Neuropsychiatric Inventory (K-NPI).

Gray matter volumes and treatment response of psychotic symptoms to risperidone in antipsychotic-naïve Alzheimer's disease patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether gray matter volumes are associated with treatment response of psychotic symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients.

Method: Risperidone, which is commonly used as an atypical antipsychotic drug, was administered in a clinical setting for 6 weeks from April 2012 to February 2013 to 25 antipsychotic-naïve AD patients with psychosis, diagnosed according to Jeste and Finkel's proposed diagnostic criteria for psychosis of Alzheimer's disease. Psychotic symptoms were rated with the Korean version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (K-NPI) at baseline and at 6 weeks, and treatment response was defined as the change in K-NPI score from baseline to 6 weeks.

Noninvasive and repetitive measurement of cellular metabolite from human osteosarcoma cells (MG-63) using 3.0 tesla proton ( H) MR spectroscopy.

Purpose: This study suggests a noninvasive and repetitive measurement method using H magnetic resonance spectroscopy to monitor changes in cellular metabolites within a single sample.

Methods: Longitudinal acquisition of cellular metabolites from three-dimensional cultured human osteosarcoma (MG-63) cells was conducted using 3.0 Tesla H MRS for 2 weeks at three time points: days 1, 7, and 14.

Cerebellar white matter changes in patients with newly diagnosed partial epilepsy of unknown etiology.

Objective: We hypothesize that pre-existing susceptible structures in the brain may be associated with the development of newly diagnosed partial epilepsy of unknown etiology.

Methods: Twenty-two patients with newly diagnosed partial epilepsy of unknown etiology and 36 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. In addition, we included 24 patients with chronic partial epilepsy of unknown etiology as a disease control group.

Cytotoxicity of TSP in 3D Agarose Gel Cultured Cell.

Purpose: A reference reagent, 3-(trimethylsilyl) propionic-2, 2, 3, 3-d4 acid sodium (TSP), has been used frequently in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) as an internal reference to identify cell and tissue metabolites, and determine chemical and protein structures. This reference material has been exploited for the quantitative and dynamic analyses of metabolite spectra acquired from cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of TSP on three-dimensionally, agarose gel, cultured cells.

Progression of subcortical atrophy and iron deposition in multiple system atrophy: a comparison between clinical subtypes.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be useful not only for the diagnosis of multiple system atrophy (MSA) itself, but also to distinguish between different clinical subtypes. This study aimed to investigate whether there are differences in the progression of subcortical atrophy and iron deposition between two variants of MSA. Two serial MRIs at baseline and follow-up were analyzed in eight patients with the parkinsonian variant MSA (MSA-P), nine patients with cerebellar variant MSA (MSA-C), and fifteen patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Apolipoprotein E genotype modulates effects of vitamin B12 and homocysteine on grey matter volume in Alzheimer's disease.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the effects of vitamin B12 and homocysteine on brain volume are influenced by apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype. We examined the effects in each subgroup (APOE ε4 carriers and non-carriers) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and healthy normal controls.

Methods: Forty participants with AD and 20 healthy normal controls were recruited from memory impairment clinics at Pusan National University Hospital in Korea.

Cortical Morphology in Patients with Orthostatic Intolerance.

Background: We evaluated the cortical morphology in patients with orthostatic intolerance.

Methods: Thirty patients with orthostatic intolerance, as well as age- and sex-matched normal controls, were enrolled in this study. We divided the patients into orthostatic hypotension (n = 22) and postural tachycardia syndrome (n = 8) groups based on their response to a head-up tilt table test.

Pre-existing structural abnormalities of the limbic system in transient global amnesia.

This study aimed to investigate the clinical and radiological findings in patients with transient global amnesia and to evaluate structural abnormalities using voxel-based morphometry. The subjects were diagnosed with transient global amnesia. For the voxel-based morphometry analyses, Statistical Parametric Mapping, running on the MATLAB platform (MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA), was employed to analyze the structural differences between patients with transient global amnesia and control subjects.

Impact of Apolipoprotein E4 Polymorphism on the Gray Matter Volume and the White Matter Integrity in Subjective Memory Impairment without White Matter Hyperintensities: Voxel-Based Morphometry and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Study under 3-Tesla MRI.

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare gray matter (GM) volume and white matter (WM) integrity in Apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE ε4) carriers with that of ApoE ε4 noncarriers using the voxel-based morphometry and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate the effect of the ApoE ε4 on brain structures in subjective memory impairment (SMI) without white matter hyperintensities (WMH).

Methods: Altogether, 26 participants with SMI without WMH were finally recruited from the Memory impairment clinics of Pusan National University Hospital in Korea. All participants were ApoE genotyped (ApoE ε4 carriers: n = 13, matched ApoE ε4 noncarriers: n = 13) and underwent 3-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including 3-dimensional volumetric images for GM volume and DTI for WM integrity.

Automated Classification to Predict the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease Using Whole-Brain Volumetry and DTI.

Objective: This study proposes an automated diagnostic method to classify patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) of degenerative etiology using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers.

Methods: Twenty-seven patients with subjective memory impairment (SMI), 18 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 27 patients with AD participated. MRI protocols included three dimensional brain structural imaging and diffusion tensor imaging to assess the cortical thickness, subcortical volume and white matter integrity.

Analysis among cognitive profiles and gray matter volume in newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment.

Purpose: To analyze the characteristics of neuropsychological profiles and gray matter volume in de novo, drug-naïve Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI).

Methods: Fifty-two newly diagnosed PD patients were assessed with neuropsychological testing, and PD-MCI was defined in patients with at least one or more abnormal cognitive test domains. PD with normal cognition (PD-NC) did not meet the criteria for PD-MCI or PD with dementia.