In Vivo Quantification of Ascending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm Wall Stretch Using MRI: Relationship to Repair Threshold Diameter and Ex Vivo Wall Failure Behavior.

Ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms (aTAAs) can lead to life-threatening dissection and rupture. Recent studies have highlighted aTAA mechanical properties as relevant factors associated with progression. The aim of this study was to quantify in vivo aortic wall stretch in healthy participants and aTAA patients using displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) magnetic resonance imaging.

Opportunities and Challenges for Augmented Reality in Family Caregiving: Qualitative Video Elicitation Study.

Background: Although family caregivers play a critical role in care delivery, research has shown that they face significant physical, emotional, and informational challenges. One promising avenue to address some of caregivers' unmet needs is via the design of digital technologies that support caregivers' complex portfolio of responsibilities. Augmented reality (AR) applications, specifically, offer new affordances to aid caregivers as they perform care tasks in the home.

Incidence of cirrhosis in Iceland-impact of the TraP HepC nationwide HCV elimination program.

Objective: In 2016, a nationwide elimination program for hepatitis C virus (HCV) was initiated in Iceland, entitled Treatment as Prevention for Hepatitis C (TraP HepC), providing unrestricted access to antiviral treatment. The aims were to describe the changes in etiology and epidemiology of cirrhosis in Iceland and to assess the trends in HCV-related cirrhosis following TraP HepC.

Methods: The study included all patients newly diagnosed with cirrhosis in 2016-2022.

[Simulation in medical education in Iceland].

Background: Skills labs and simulation centers have become an integrated part of teaching methods in many medical schools. This study aims to describe the status of simulation in medical education in Iceland by examining student and faculty experience, facilitating and barring factors for its use in teaching and how the concept appears in the Course Catalog.

Materials And Methods: The study was threefold.

Taste education - A food-based intervention in a school setting, focusing on children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders and their families. A randomized controlled trial.

Children with neurodevelopmental disorders (ND) such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) have high levels of fussy eating. However, no school-based food interventions exist for children with ASD and ADHD. To investigate the effect of Taste Education, 81 children with ND (n = 33), and without (n = 48), aged 8-12 years, and their parents, participated in a 7-week food intervention.

A Volumetric Metric for Monitoring Intracranial Aneurysms: Repeatability and Growth Criteria in a Longitudinal MR Imaging Study.

Background And Purpose: The reliability of contrast-enhanced MRA in monitoring serial volumetric changes of unruptured intracranial aneurysms has not been established. We aimed to determine the coefficient of variance of contrast-enhanced MRA in measuring aneurysm volumes, thus establishing criteria for aneurysm growth and permitting identification of variables predictive of growth.

Materials And Methods: Aneurysm volumes were measured from serial contrast-enhanced MRA studies of patients with untreated intracranial aneurysms who underwent >2 sequential MR imaging evaluations.

A kinematic model-based analysis framework for 3D Cine-DENSE-validation with an axially compressed gel phantom and application in sheep before and after antero-apical myocardial infarction.

Purpose: Myocardial strain is increasingly used to assess left ventricular (LV) function. Incorporation of LV deformation into finite element (FE) modeling environment with subsequent strain calculation will allow analysis to reach its full potential. We describe a new kinematic model-based analysis framework (KMAF) to calculate strain from 3D cine-DENSE (displacement encoding with stimulated echoes) MRI.

Identification of intra-individual variation in intracranial arterial flow by MRI and the effect on computed hemodynamic descriptors.

Objectives: To determine the intra-individual flow variation in serially acquired studies, and the influence of this variation on subsequent hemodynamic simulations using the inlet flow as a boundary condition. Author: Kindly check and confirm whether the corresponding authors are correctly identified.Confirmed.

Clinical validation of three cardiovascular magnetic resonance techniques to measure strain and torsion in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

Background: Several cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) techniques can measure myocardial strain and torsion with high accuracy. The purpose of this study was to compare displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE), tagging and feature tracking (FT) for measuring circumferential and radial myocardial strain and myocardial torsion in order to assess myocardial function and infarct scar burden both at a global and at a segmental level.

Method: 116 patients with a high likelihood of coronary artery disease (European SCORE > 15%) underwent CMR examination including cine images, tagging, DENSE and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) in the short axis direction.

Computer-aided quantification of non-contrast 3D black blood MRI as an efficient alternative to reference standard manual CT angiography measurements of abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Background: Non-contrast 3D black blood MRI is a promising tool for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) surveillance, permitting accurate aneurysm diameter measurements needed for patient management.

Purpose: To evaluate whether automated AAA volume and diameter measurements obtained from computer-aided segmentation of non-contrast 3D black blood MRI are accurate, and whether they can supplant reference standard manual measurements from contrast-enhanced CT angiography (CTA).

Materials And Methods: Thirty AAA patients (mean age, 71.

Left ventricular geometry during unloading and the end-systolic pressure volume relationship: Measurement with a modified real-time MRI-based method in normal sheep.

The left ventricular (LV) end-systolic (ES) pressure volume relationship (ESPVR) is the cornerstone of systolic LV function analysis. We describe a 2D real-time (RT) MRI-based method (RTPVR) with separate software tools for 1) semi-automatic level set-based shape prior method (LSSPM) of the LV, 2) generation of synchronized pressure area loops and 3) calculation of the ESPVR. We used the RTPVR method to measure ventricular geometry, ES pressure area relationship (ESPAR) and ESPVR during vena cava occlusion (VCO) in normal sheep.

Quantitative measurement of atheroma burden: reproducibility in serial studies of atherosclerotic femoral arteries.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the reproducibility of measures of plaque morphology in serially acquired black-blood MRI of untreated atherosclerotic femoral arteries.

Materials And Methods: MR studies was obtained from 42 timepoints, on 12 patients with known femoral artery atherosclerosis. Images with a 3D isotropic FLASH with DANTE-prepared black blood contrast (DASH) at a 3-T scanner were acquired at baseline, within 1 week, and at 1 month.

Myocardial injection of a thermoresponsive hydrogel with reactive oxygen species scavenger properties improves border zone contractility.

The decrease in contractility in myocardium adjacent (border zone; BZ) to a myocardial infarction (MI) is correlated with an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS). We hypothesized that injection of a thermoresponsive hydrogel, with ROS scavenging properties, into the MI would decrease ROS and improve BZ function. Fourteen sheep underwent antero-apical MI.

Sound Measurement in Patient-Specific 3D Printed Bench Models of Venous Pulsatile Tinnitus.

Hypothesis: We hypothesize patient-specific flow models to be an adequate in vitro surrogate to allow for characterization of pulsatile tinnitus (PT) that affects three to five million Americans.

Background: PT, rhythmic sounds without an extracorporeal source that patients appreciate, can be caused by aberrant blood flow in large cerebral veins near the cochlea. To investigate the sound production mechanism, we created 3D printed flow models based on patient-specific cerebral venous anatomies.

Trail Making Test, Stroop, and Verbal Fluency: Regression-Based Norms for the Icelandic Population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to construct regression-based norms for 3 executive-function tests: the Trail Making Test, Stroop, and Verbal Fluency.

Method: A sample of 1,034 healthy Icelandic adults (18-64 years) was used to calculate predicted scores for test measures from all 3 tests, controlled for the effects of age, gender, and education, as well as the interaction between these variables.

Results: The 3 demographic variables showed significant effects on most test measures and were included in the final equation for estimating predicted scores.

Cognitive Measures and Performance on the Antisaccade Eye Movement Task.

The antisaccade (AS) task is considered a prominent measure of inhibitory control, but it is still unclear which cognitive processes are used for successful performance of the task. Previous results have provided evidence for the involvement of several processes, including working memory (WM), inhibition and attention. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore, using a range of neuropsychological tests, which cognitive factors predict individual differences in AS performance.

Erratum: Sigurjónsdóttir, H.; Haraldsson, H. Significance of Group Composition for the Welfare of Pastured Horses. 2019, 9, 14.

The authors wish to make the following correction to their paper [...

Shape-appearance constrained segmentation and separation of vein and artery in pulsatile tinnitus patients based on MR angiography and flow MRI.

This study reports on the development and evaluation of a novel segmentation method for extracting the internal jugular vein and the adjacent carotid artery from magnetic resonance (MR) images of patients with pulsatile tinnitus. A narrow band level set method with combined shape and appearance constraints was developed and applied to high-resolution MR images from 17 pulsatile tinnitus patients (age 52 ± 23 years, 10 females). The proposed method was validated by comparing with the manual segmentation as well as by identifying the jugular vein and carotid artery based on 4D flow MRI in which the two types of vessels have opposing flow.

Reduced Jet Velocity in Venous Flow after CSF Drainage: Assessing Hemodynamic Causes of Pulsatile Tinnitus.

Background And Purpose: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is commonly associated with transverse sinus stenosis, a venous cause of pulsatile tinnitus. In patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, CSF drainage via lumbar puncture decreases intracranial pressure, which relieves the stenosis, and may provide at least temporary cessation of pulsatile tinnitus. The objective of this study was to evaluate changes in venous blood flow caused by lowered intracranial pressure in patients with pulsatile tinnitus to help identify the cause of pulsatile tinnitus.

Significance of Group Composition for the Welfare of Pastured Horses.

We explore how herd composition and management factors correlate with frequencies of social interactions in horse groups. Since the welfare of horses correlates with low aggression levels and social contact opportunities, information of this kind is important. The data are a collection of records of social interactions of 426 Icelandic horses in 20 groups of at least eight horses.

Visualizing wall enhancement over time in unruptured intracranial aneurysms using 3D vessel wall imaging.

Background: Few studies directed at assessing the visualization of the walls of unruptured aneurysms have used higher-resolution 3D MRI vessel wall imaging. Prospective longitudinal studies are also needed to screen vessel wall changes in unruptured aneurysms.

Purpose: To compare the aneurysm wall visualization on pre- and post-3D isotropic T -weighted Sampling Perfection with Application-optimized Contrasts by using different flip angle Evolutions (SPACE) images and to explore whether there is a change in wall enhancement at follow up.

MR Venous Flow in Sigmoid Sinus Diverticulum.

Background And Purpose: Case reports demonstrate that coiling of a sigmoid sinus diverticulum can treat pulsatile tinnitus. We hypothesized that MR imaging 4D flow and computational fluid dynamics would reveal distinct blood flow patterns in the venous outflow tract in these patients.

Materials And Methods: Patients with pulsatile tinnitus of suspected venous etiology underwent MR imaging at 3T, using venous phase contrast-enhanced MR angiography, 4D flow, and 2D phase contrast.

Wall stress on ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms with bicuspid compared with tricuspid aortic valve.

Objective: Guidelines for repair of bicuspid aortic valve-associated ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms have been changing, most recently to the same criteria as tricuspid aortic valve-ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms. Rupture/dissection occurs when wall stress exceeds wall strength. Recent studies suggest similar strength of bicuspid aortic valve versus tricuspid aortic valve-ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms; thus, comparative wall stress may better predict dissection in bicuspid aortic valve versus tricuspid aortic valve-ascending thoracic aortic aneurysms.

Gated thoracic magnetic resonance angiography at 3T: noncontrast versus blood pool contrast.

Both noncontrast and contrast-enhanced approaches to gated thoracic magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) for aortic root evaluation have been reported at 3T. We compare qualitative and quantitative image quality measures for the two approaches, and assess the reproducibility of standard aortic measurements. Respiratory and cardiac gated MRA of the chest was performed at 3T in 45 patients: 23 after administration of iron-based blood pool contrast, and 22 without contrast.