Minor Structural Differences in the Cervical Spine Between Patients With Cervical Dystonia and Age-Matched Healthy Controls.

Cervical dystonia is the most common form of focal dystonia. The frequency and pattern of degenerative changes of the cervical spine in patients with cervical dystonia and their relation to clinical symptoms remain unclear as no direct comparison to healthy controls has been performed yet. Here, we used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate (1) whether structural abnormalities of the cervical spine are more common in patients with cervical dystonia compared to age-matched healthy controls, (2) if there are clinical predictors for abnormalities on MRI, and (3) to calculate the inter-rater reliability of the respective radiological scales.

Successful Retrieval of an Embolized Vascular Closure Device (Angio-Seal) After Peripheral Angioplasty.

A 55-year-old male with peripheral arterial disease underwent angioplasty of the right lower limb arteries via antegrade femoral access. Angio-Seal closure device was used to treat the puncture site, whereby the intravascular sealing anchor accidentally embolized into the malleolar region of the right posterior tibial artery. Successful retrieval of the anchor was accomplished by a SpiderFX embolic protection device.

First pass dual input volume CT-perfusion of lung lesions: The influence of the CT- value range settings on the perfusion values of benign and malignant entities.

Objective: To assess the influence of the lower threshold for segmentation of the volume of interest on the perfusion values in first-pass dual input volume CT-perfusion of lung lesions.

Materials And Methods: Dual input maximum slope volume CT-perfusion was performed in 48 patients (mean age±standard deviation [SD], 68±10years; range, 46-87 years) who underwent subsequent CT-guided biopsy to evaluate a lung lesion. Using commercial perfusion software, a lower and upper threshold was set for determination of the CT-value range, which again determined the volume of interest for perfusion calculation.

The impact of iterative reconstruction on image quality and radiation dose in thoracic and abdominal CT.

Purpose: To compare the image quality and radiation dose between iterative reconstruction (IR) and standard filtered back projection (FBP) in CT of the chest and abdomen.

Materials And Methods: Thoracic CT was performed in 50 patients (38 male, 12 female; mean age, 51 ± 23 yrs; range, 7-85 yrs) and abdominal CT was performed in 50 patients (36 male, 14 female; mean age, 62 ± 13 yrs; range, 20-85 yrs), using IR as well as FBP for image reconstruction. Image noise was quantitatively assessed measuring standard deviation of Hounsfield Units (HU) in defined regions of interest in subcutaneous tissue.

Placement of hemoparin-coated stents in the iliac arteries: early experience and midterm results in 28 patients.

Purpose: Aim was to determine immediate results and mid-term outcome of the hemoparin-coated (HC) stainless-steel stent (camouflage coating) in the treatment of occlusive lesions of the iliac arteries.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-eight patients were prospectively treated with the use of a HC stent between January 2007 and March 2010. Clinical examination and color-doppler ultrasound were performed at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, CT angiography (CTA) or MR angiography (MRA) at 12 months.

A HLA-Cw6 specific single-chain antibody fragment (scFv) recognizing a natural killer cell receptor epitope.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules induce inhibitory signals on natural killer (NK) cells via killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR). We recently reported a human single-chain antibody (scFv#1), which recognizes an epitope on HLA-Cw6 (genotype: *0602). Flow cytometry showed scFv#1 binding to HLA-Cw6 (strong) and also to HLA-Cw2, 4, 5 (very weak) but not to HLA-Cw1, 3, 7, 8.