Cardiac computed tomography and quadricuspid aortic valve: a case report.

A quadricuspid aortic valve is rare and often incidentally found by echocardiography, surgically, or on post mortem examination. Aortic regurgitation is common and if severe enough can lead to symptoms of dyspnea. We report a case of a quadricuspid aortic valve, which was found by cardiac multidetector computed tomography during a pre-operative assessment for severe aortic regurgitation.

Clinical utility of time-resolved imaging of contrast kinetics (TRICKS) magnetic resonance angiography for infrageniculate arterial occlusive disease.

Objective: The diagnostic accuracy of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in the infrapopliteal arterial segment is not well defined. This study evaluated the clinical utility and diagnostic accuracy of time-resolved imaging of contrast kinetics (TRICKS) MRA compared with digital subtraction contrast angiography (DSA) in planning for percutaneous interventions of popliteal and infrapopliteal arterial occlusive disease.

Methods: Patients who underwent percutaneous lower extremity interventions for popliteal or tibial occlusive disease were identified for this study.

Dynamic MR venography: an intrinsic benefit of time-resolved MR angiography.

Purpose: To investigate the possibility of obtaining dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance venography (DCE-MRV) images of the lower extremities.

Materials And Methods: Peripheral contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) was performed on 20 patients using a time-resolved sequence that combined undersampled projection reconstruction (PR) in-plane and Cartesian slice encoding through-plane. The contrast dynamics of distal vessels were depicted.

Background suppression in time-resolved MR angiography without mask acquisition or operator intervention.

Purpose: To suppress static and background tissue in time-resolved MRA studies of the full thorax or abdomen without the need of a mask image or operator intervention.

Materials And Methods: The time course of each voxel is projected onto the orthogonal complement space of a matrix that spans static and linearly enhancing signal vectors. The norm of the solution, or the projection length, acts as a confidence measure for segmenting vascular and nonvascular tissue.

Magnetic resonance angiography in children: technique, indications, and imaging findings.

Non-invasive imaging of cardiovascular disease in pediatric subjects has been an elusive and much anticipated development for many years. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) has now been established in many institutions as an important diagnostic method for evaluating vascular disease in adults. However, MRA techniques have disseminated more slowly in children owing to significant technical challenges in the pediatric population, including motion, low signal-to-noise ratio, and suboptimal temporal or spatial resolution.

Dual-phase 3D MDCT angiography for evaluation of the liver before hepatic resection.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the accuracy of dual-phase MDCT angiography for assessing the liver before hepatic resection and to compare 2D and 3D images for quality and arterial branch visualization.

Materials And Methods: Sixty-three patients with colorectal metastases (n = 30), hepatocellular carcinomas (n = 13), giant hemangiomas (n = 5), and other lesions (n = 15) underwent dual-phase MDCT using either a LightSpeed QX/i 4-MDCT (n = 31) or LightSpeed QX/i Ultra 8-MDCT (n = 32) scanner. Contrast material (150 mL of Isovue 370 [iopamidol]) was injected at a rate of 5 mL/sec.

Time-resolved 3D MR angiography of the abdomen with a real-time system.

This study reports on the implementation of a real-time MR acquisition, reconstruction, and display system on standard hardware for 3D contrast-enhanced MR abdominal angiography. The system allows for dynamic imaging of the contrast passage with good spatial resolution in a single breathhold. It is capable of synchronously acquiring and processing multiple coil data.

Transseptal stent treatment of anastomotic stricture after repair of partial anomalous pulmonary venous return.

Purpose: To report the endovascular treatment of a stenosis of the pulmonary venous anastomosis following surgical treatment for partial anomalous pulmonary venous return.

Case Report: A 60-year-old man presented with recurrent pleural effusions after correction of a partial anomalous left pulmonary venous return. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated focal stenosis at the anastomosis of the anomalous pulmonary vein to the left atrial appendage.

L-Arginine supplementation enhances diabetic wound healing: involvement of the nitric oxide synthase and arginase pathways.

Diabetes impairs wound healing and there are few therapeutic options to reverse it. Previous work has demonstrated the importance of nitric oxide for successful wound healing. In diabetes, NO synthesis is reduced in the wound milieu.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: enteral nutrition provision--endoscopic or radiologic gastrostomy?

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate gastrostomy placement in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to determine the insertion method of choice.

Materials And Methods: During 3(1/2) years, 36 patients with ALS (19 men, 17 women; mean age, 54 years; age range, 37-69 years) underwent gastrostomy. Twenty patients were primarily referred for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) and 16 for percutaneous radiologic gastrostomy (PRG).