[Intramedullary Abscess of the Cervical Spinal Cord Caused by Advanced Periodontitis:Case Report].

We describe the case of a 60-year-old man with an intramedullary abscess of the cervical spinal cord caused by advanced periodontitis. He suddenly developed severe neck pain and rapidly progressive palsy of the left upper arm. T2-weighted sagittal magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)revealed a hyperintense area extending from C1 to C6.

Brain temperature measured by using proton MR spectroscopy predicts cerebral hyperperfusion after carotid endarterectomy.

Purpose: To determine whether brain temperature measured by using preoperative proton magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy could help identify patients at risk for cerebral hyperperfusion after carotid endarterectomy (CEA).

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained. Acquisition of proton MR spectroscopic data by using point-resolved spectroscopy without water suppression was performed before CEA in the bilateral cerebral hemispheres of 84 patients with unilateral internal carotid artery stenosis (> or =70%) and without contralateral internal carotid artery steno-occlusive disease.

High-resolution diffusion tensor imaging for the detection of diffusion abnormalities in the trigeminal nerves of patients with trigeminal neuralgia caused by neurovascular compression.

Purpose: To detect diffusion abnormalities in the trigeminal nerves of patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) caused by neurovascular compression (NVC) by using a high-resolution diffusion tensor imaging (HR-DTI) technique.

Methods: Thirteen patients with TN and 14 healthy controls underwent HR-DTI scanning. After extracting the trigeminal nerve using a tractography technique, we measured the fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and compared the contralateral ratios (CR) of these parameters between the patients and controls, and correlated these ratios with the cross-sectional areas of the nerves.

Assessment of damage to cerebral white matter fiber in the subacute phase after carbon monoxide poisoning using fractional anisotropy in diffusion tensor imaging.

Introduction: Chronic neuropsychiatric symptoms after carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning are caused by demyelination of cerebral white matter fibers. We examined whether diffusion tensor imaging can sensitively represent damage to fibers of the centrum semiovale in the subacute phase after CO intoxication.

Methods: Subjects comprised 13 adult patients with CO poisoning, classified into three groups according to clinical behaviors: group A, patients with transit acute symptoms only; group P, patients with persistent neurological symptoms; and group D, patients with "delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae" occurring after a lucid interval.

Brain temperature measured using proton MR spectroscopy detects cerebral hemodynamic impairment in patients with unilateral chronic major cerebral artery steno-occlusive disease: comparison with positron emission tomography.

Background And Purpose: Brain temperature is determined by the balance between heat produced by cerebral energy turnover and heat removed by cerebral blood flow. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether brain temperature measured noninvasively using proton MR spectroscopy can detect cerebral hemodynamic impairment in patients with unilateral chronic internal carotid or middle cerebral artery occlusive disease when compared with positron emission tomography.

Methods: Brain temperature, cerebral blood flow, and metabolism were measured using proton MR spectroscopy and (15)O-positron emission tomography, respectively, in 21 normal subjects and 37 patients.

Prediction of cerebral hyperperfusion after carotid endarterectomy using middle cerebral artery signal intensity in preoperative single-slab 3-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography.

Objective: Cerebral hyperperfusion after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) occurs in patients with preoperative impairments in cerebral hemodynamics. Signal intensity of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) on single-slab 3-dimensional time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) can assess hemodynamic impairment in the cerebral hemisphere. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the signal intensity of the MCA on preoperative MRA could identify patients at risk for cerebral hyperperfusion after CEA.

Preoperative single-slab 3D time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography predicts development of new cerebral ischemic events after carotid endarterectomy. Clinical article.

Object: Preoperative impairment of cerebral hemodynamics predicts the development of new cerebral ischemic events after carotid endarterectomy (CEA), including neurological deficits and cerebral ischemic lesions on diffusion weighted MR imaging. Furthermore, the signal intensity of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) on single-slab 3D time-of-flight MR angiography (MRA) can assess hemodynamic impairment in the cerebral hemisphere. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether, on preoperative MR angiography, the signal intensity of the MCA can be used to identify patients at risk for development of cerebral ischemic events after CEA.

Concentration of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in the jugular bulb during carotid endarterectomy correlates with severity of intraoperative cerebral ischemia.

Background: Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 targets major components of the basal lamina of cerebral blood vessels and is a biochemical marker of blood-brain barrier disruption. The goal of this study was to determine whether plasma concentrations of MMP-9 in the jugular bulb during carotid endarterectomy (CEA) correlate with severity of intraoperative cerebral ischemia.

Methods: In 41 patients undergoing CEA for ipsilateral internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis, plasma samples for measurement of MMP-9 concentration were intraoperatively obtained from a venous catheter inserted into the ipsilateral jugular bulb.

Meningioma in the posterior fossa without dural attachment.

A 14-year-old boy presented with a very rare meningioma in the posterior cranial fossa without dural attachment. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 3-cm, well-circumscribed, heterogeneously enhanced, round mass without dural tail sign in the right side of the posterior fossa. Right vertebral angiography revealed very faint tumor staining supplied by the right posterior inferior cerebellar artery.