Substantia nigra MR imaging signal changes and cardiomyopathy following prenatal exposure to cocaine and heroin.

Exposure to cocaine in utero results in behavioral and neurodevelopmental abnormalities that persist into adulthood. Conventional MR imaging has generally failed to reveal the expected structural lesions to explain these clinical findings. We report a case of focal MR imaging signal-intensity changes in the substantia nigra, locus ceruleus, and other selected nerve tracts and nuclei in a child exposed prenatally to cocaine and other drugs.

Estimation of gallbladder ejection fraction utilizing cholecystokinin-stimulated magnetic resonance cholangiography and comparison with hepatobiliary scintigraphy.

Purpose: To evaluate the utility of magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) in estimation of gallbladder ejection fraction (GBEF) and to comparing this value to the conventional method, hepatobiliary scintigraphy (HBS).

Materials And Methods: Twenty-one healthy volunteers were imaged on sequential weeks to determine GBEF using MRC and HBS. GBEF was calculated by HBS after infusion of 20 ng/kg of sincalide following injection of 111 Mbq of Tc 99(m) mebrofenin.

Laryngeal penetration: a predictor of aspiration in infants?

Background: We routinely observed "isolated" laryngeal penetration (ILP) on upper GI studies in infants with no risk for aspiration.

Objective: To determine whether "isolated" LP (LP during the pharyngeal phase of swallowing) is a benign process in infants and therefore not a predictor of aspiration as it is known to be in adults.

Patients And Methods: Two radiologists retrospectively reviewed videotaped upper GI studies done over a 2-year period on patients less than 2 years of age.

Adrenal calcification: an incidental finding or not?

When the adrenal gland is calcified but no mass is found, the calcification is usually assumed to be due to prior adrenal hemorrhage. We report a case of adrenal calcification without a noncalcified mass in a child who subsequently presented with neuroblastoma elsewhere. This case has implications for the investigation of children with adrenal calcification.