Evaluation of carotid angioplasty and stenting for radiation-induced carotid stenosis.

Background And Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the procedural safety, clinical, and angiographic outcome of carotid angioplasty and stenting for high-grade (≥70%) radiation-induced carotid stenosis (RIS) using atherosclerotic stenosis (AS) as a control.

Methods: In this 6-year prospective nonrandomized study, we compared the carotid angioplasty and stenting outcome of 65 consecutive patients (84 vessels) with RIS with that of a control group of 129 consecutive patients (150 vessels) with AS. Study end points were 30-day periprocedural stroke or death, ipsilateral ischemic stroke, technical success, procedural characteristics, instent restenosis (ISR; ≥50%) and symptomatic ISR.

Prediction of esophageal varices in patients with cirrhosis: usefulness of three-dimensional MR elastography with echo-planar imaging technique.

Purpose: To determine the diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance (MR) elastography in comparison to spleen length and dynamic contrast material-enhanced (DCE) MR imaging in association with esophageal varices in patients with liver cirrhosis by using endoscopy as the reference standard.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study received institutional review board approval, and informed consent was waived. One hundred thirty-nine patients with liver cirrhosis who underwent liver DCE MR imaging, including MR elastography, were included.

Cortical hubs and subcortical cholinergic pathways as neural substrates of poststroke dementia.

Background And Purpose: A role of neural networks in the development of poststroke dementia has not been clearly established. We hypothesized that stroke-mediated disruption of subcortical cholinergic pathway or large-scale neural networks contributes to poststroke dementia.

Methods: A matched case-control study was conducted in a predetermined cohort with acute ischemic stroke.

Levetiracetam versus phenytoin: a comparison of efficacy of seizure prophylaxis and adverse event risk following acute or subacute subdural hematoma diagnosis.

Background: Although both levetiracetam and phenytoin are used for seizure prophylaxis in subdural hematomas (SDHs), there is little data on their comparative efficacies. We compared the efficacy and risk of using levetiracetam versus phenytoin for seizure prophylaxis following acute or subacute SDH diagnosis.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the clinical data registry at a tertiary care hospital was searched for all cases of acute or subacute SDHs that were admitted to hospital in 2002, 2003, or 2011.

Hepatic steatosis in living liver donor candidates: preoperative assessment by using breath-hold triple-echo MR imaging and 1H MR spectroscopy.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of both breath-hold T2*-corrected triple-echo spoiled gradient-echo water-fat separation magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (triple-echo imaging) and high-speed T2-corrected multiecho hydrogen 1 ((1)H) MR spectroscopy in the assessment of macrovesicular hepatic steatosis in living liver donor candidates by using histologic assessment as a reference standard.

Materials And Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study with waiver of the need to obtain informed consent. One hundred eighty-two liver donor candidates who had undergone preoperative triple-echo imaging and single-voxel (3 × 3 × 3 cm) MR spectroscopy performed with a 3.

Small single-nodule hepatocellular carcinoma: comparison of transarterial chemoembolization, radiofrequency ablation, and hepatic resection by using inverse probability weighting.

Purpose: To compare the effectiveness of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), radiofrequency ablation (RFA), and hepatic resection (HR) in patients with small single-nodule hepatocellular carcinoma by using inverse probability weighting to control selection bias.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective cohort study was approved by the institutional review board, and the requirement to obtain informed consent was waived. The study included 197 consecutive patients (146 men and 51 women; mean age ± standard deviation, 57.

Bioreducible polymer-delivered siRNA targeting MMP-9: suppression of granulation tissue formation after bare metallic stent placement in a rat urethral model.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) in suppressing granulation tissue formation caused by bare metallic stent placement in a rat urethral model.

Materials And Methods: All experiments were approved by the committee of animal research. In 20 Sprague-Dawley male rats (weight range, 300-350 g), a self-expanding metallic bare stent was inserted in the urethra with fluoroscopic guidance.

Radiofrequency ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma as first-line treatment: long-term results and prognostic factors in 162 patients with cirrhosis.

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term outcomes of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) as a first-line therapy for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and determine the prognostic factors for survival.

Materials And Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study. From January 2006 to December 2007, 162 consecutive patients with cirrhosis (Child-Pugh class A and B, 137 and 25 patients, respectively) who underwent RFA as a first-line treatment for up to three HCCs with a maximum diameter of 5 cm (182 HCCs; mean diameter ± standard deviation, 2.

Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted MR imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation with enhancement degree and histologic grade.

Purpose: To compare the association of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM)-derived parameters and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) with the histologic grade of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and evaluate the relationship between IVIM-derived parameters and arterial enhancement degree.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study was institutional review board-approved, and informed consent was waived. Forty patients with 42 surgically confirmed HCCs underwent diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with eight b values (0-800 sec/mm(2)).

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Diffusion-weighted MR Imaging-An Experimental Study in a Rabbit Model.

Purpose To evaluate the feasibility of using intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging with multiple b values for the noninvasive diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Materials and Methods This study was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. Twenty-seven 8-week-old rabbits were fed a variety of diets (from a standard diet to a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet) before IVIM diffusion-weighted imaging was performed with seven b values by using a 3-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging unit.

Clinical and angiographic features and stroke types in adult moyamoya disease.

Background And Purpose: This study was conducted to elucidate the association between clinical and angiographic characteristics and stroke types in adult Moyamoya disease that has been rarely evaluated.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed the clinical and radiologic data obtained from a retrospective adult Moyamoya disease cohort with acute strokes, which were classified into 7 categories: large-artery infarct, hemodynamic infarct, perforator infarct, deep intracerebral hemorrhage, lobar intracerebral hemorrhage, intraventricular hemorrhage, and SAH. With conventional angiography, which was performed in the hemispheres with acute strokes, the Suzuki angiographic stage, intracranial aneurysm, major artery occlusion, and collateral vessel development were confirmed within 1 month of stroke onset.

Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted MR imaging for characterization of focal pancreatic lesions.

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic potential of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM)-derived parameters for differentiation of common pancreatic tumors, chronic pancreatitis, and normal pancreas and for characterization of the malignancy potential of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs).

Materials And Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study, and informed consent was waived. Ninety-three consecutive patients with surgically resected and pathologically confirmed pancreatic tumors (39 pancreatic adenocarcinomas [PACs], 17 neuroendocrine tumors [NETs], and 37 IPMNs), seven patients with chronic pancreatitis, and 26 patients with a normal pancreas were included in this study.

Unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: randomized controlled trial of transarterial ethanol ablation versus transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.

Purpose: To compare effectiveness of transarterial ethanol ablation (TEA) and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma and determine whether TEA leads to better overall survival and tumor response than TACE.

Materials And Methods: In this institutional review board-approved preregistered randomized controlled trial (n = 200), informed consent was obtained. Primary outcome was overall survival; secondary outcomes were time to progression (TTP), progression-free survival (PFS), tumor response at computed tomography, and treatment-related toxicity.

Detection of prefracture hip lesions in atypical subtrochanteric fracture with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry images.

Purpose: To retrospectively assess how often and how early hip dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) images show prefracture lesions in patients with atypical subtrochanteric fracture (ASF) and determine whether DXA images with assessment of prodromal symptoms could be used for early ASF prediction.

Materials And Methods: The retrospective research protocol complied with HIPAA and was institutional review board approved, with waiver of informed consent. Among 62 women with ASF, nine without hip DXA images and seven without clear documentation of prodromal symptoms were excluded.

Optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stent implantation: a randomized, controlled trial.

Background: The risks and benefits of long-term dual antiplatelet therapy remain unclear.

Methods And Results: This prospective, multicenter, open-label, randomized comparison trial was conducted in 24 clinical centers in Korea. In total, 5045 patients who received drug-eluting stents and were free of major adverse cardiovascular events and major bleeding for at least 12 months after stent placement were enrolled between July 2007 and July 2011.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted MR imaging-an experimental study in a rabbit model.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of using intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging with multiple b values for the noninvasive diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Materials And Methods: This study was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee. Twenty-seven 8-week-old rabbits were fed a variety of diets (from a standard diet to a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet) before IVIM diffusion-weighted imaging was performed with seven b values by using a 3-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging unit.

Prognostic value of preoperative right ventricular geometry and tricuspid valve tethering area in patients undergoing tricuspid annuloplasty.

Background: Patients who undergo tricuspid annuloplasty during left-side heart valve surgery have a poor postoperative clinical outcome. However, preoperative right ventricular (RV) echocardiography parameters that predict adverse events in these patients are poorly understood.

Methods And Results: We studied 74 patients (age, 58±10 years; men, 27%) with significant tricuspid regurgitation who consequently underwent tricuspid annuloplasty during left-side heart valve surgery.

Effects of eugenol on T-type Ca2+ channel isoforms.

Eugenol has been used as an analgesic in dentistry. Previous studies have demonstrated that voltage-gated Na(+) channels and high-voltage-activated Ca(2+) channels expressed in trigeminal ganglion (TG) neurons sensing dental pain are molecular targets of eugenol for its analgesic effects. However, it has not been investigated whether eugenol can affect T-type Ca(2+) channels, which are known to be detected in the afferent neurons.

Analysis of start-up, retention, and adherence in ALS clinical trials.

Objective: To investigate predictors of trial start-up times, high attrition, and poor protocol adherence in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) trials.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of start-up times, retention, and protocol adherence was performed on 5 clinical studies conducted by the Northeast ALS Consortium and 50 ALS clinical trials identified by PubMed search. Predictors of start-up times were estimated by accelerated failure time models with random effects.

Comparison of once-daily versus twice-daily combination of ropinirole prolonged release in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Ropinirole prolonged release (RPR) is a once-daily formulation. However, there may be individual pharmacokinetic differences so that multiple dosing may be preferred in some individuals. This study compares once-daily and twice-daily RPR in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Impact of both ends of the hemoglobin range on clinical outcomes in acute ischemic stroke.

Background And Purpose: Although both ends of the hemoglobin range may negatively influence clinical outcomes in acute ischemic stroke, most studies have examined the linear relationship or focused on the lower end of the range. Furthermore, it is unclear whether hemoglobin concentrations at different time points during hospitalization correlate with clinical outcomes in the same manner.

Methods: We identified 2681 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke from a prospective stroke registry database and grouped them into hemoglobin concentration quintiles using the following 5 indices: initial, nadir, time-averaged, discharge hemoglobin, and hemoglobin drop.

Revising a personal genome by comparing and combining data from two different sequencing platforms.

For the robust practice of genomic medicine, sequencing results must be compatible, regardless of the sequencing technologies and algorithms used. Presently, genome sequencing is still an imprecise science and is complicated by differences in the chemistry, coverage, alignment, and variant-calling algorithms. We identified ~3.

Gene expression profiling of allogeneic islet grafts in an experimental mouse model before rejection or tolerance phenotypes arise.

Background: It has been reported that an HY antigen-mismatched islet transplantation can induce peripheral tolerance. However, the factors that initiate the peripheral tolerance are not clear. This study was designed to examine which genes were most important for the induction of peripheral tolerance.

The interrelationship between non-motor symptoms in Atypical Parkinsonism.

Background: Atypical Parkinsonism is less common and has more severe symptoms than Parkinson's disease (PD). Little is known about the non-motor symptom (NMS) characteristics of multiple systemic atrophy (MSA) or progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). We report the interrelationship of NMS in MSA, PSP, and PD.

Translation and validation of the korean version of the 39-item Parkinson's disease questionnaire.

Background And Purpose: The importance of health-related quality of life (HrQoL) has been increasingly emphasized when assessing and providing treatment to patients with chronic, progressive, degenerative disorders. The 39-item Parkinson's disease questionnaire (PDQ-39) is the most widely used patient-reporting scale to assess HrQoL in Parkinson's disease (PD). This study evaluated the validity and reliability of the translated Korean version of the PDQ-39 (K-PDQ-39).