Challenges in glucoCEST MR body imaging at 3 Tesla.

Background: The aim of this study was to translate dynamic glucose enhancement (DGE) body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based on the glucose chemical exchange saturation transfer (glucoCEST) signal to a 3 T clinical field strength.

Methods: An infusion protocol for intravenous (i.v.

X chromosome inactivation analysis reveals a difference in the biology of ET patients with JAK2 and CALR mutations.

Calreticulin mutations (CALR(MUT)) are found in a significant proportion of patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET) lacking JAK2(V617F) or MPL mutations. They are associated with substantially different hematological and clinical features and define a distinct subtype of ET. We show here that their presence is significantly correlated with a clonal X chromosome inactivation pattern (XCIP).

The clinical utility of Multiplate analyser measurement in platelet function testing following stroke and transient ischaemic attack.

Background: Platelet responsiveness to aspirin in people with cerebrovascular disease is poorly understood.

Objectives: To determine: (i) normal reference range, imprecision and reproducibility of the Multiplate instrument in healthy volunteers naive to aspirin; (ii) imprecision and reproducibility of the Multiplate instrument in acute stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA); (iii) the relationship between aspirin responsiveness and clinical outcome.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated platelet function response to three agonists [Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP), Arachidonic Acid (AA), Collagen (Col)] using the Mulitplate platelet function analyser in a two-phase pilot study.

Prognostic role of PET scanning before and after reduced-intensity allogeneic stem cell transplantation for lymphoma.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) is an established therapy for patients with relapsed lymphoma, but the role of positron emission tomography (PET) scanning preallogeneic and postallogeneic SCT is uncertain. We investigated whether pretransplantation PET status predicted outcome after allogeneic SCT and whether PET surveillance after transplantation provided additional information compared with computed tomography (CT) scanning. Eighty consecutive patients with lymphoma who received a reduced-intensity allogeneic SCT were entered onto a prospective trial.

In essential thrombocythemia, multiple JAK2-V617F clones are present in most mutant-positive patients: a new disease paradigm.

In essential thrombocythemia (ET), the JAK2-V617F mutation is usually restricted to a subpopulation of neutrophils and platelets, and production of JAK2 wild-type (WT) platelets is not suppressed. Nonmutated precursor cells may, therefore, be susceptible to the acquisition of further JAK2 mutations. We used a common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the JAK2 coding sequence to genotype V617F alleles obtained either by allele-specific restriction enzyme digestion (RED) or by cloning.

The production of JAK2 wild-type platelets is not downregulated in patients with JAK2 V617F mutant-positive essential thrombocythaemia.

To clarify the relationship between the levels of JAK2 wild-type (WT) and V617F mutant-positive platelets in patients with essential thrombocythaemia (ET), we quantified mutant levels in purified cells from 10 V617F-positive patients prior to receiving cytoreductive therapy. Mutant levels were significantly higher in platelet than neutrophil RNA (P = 0.002), but the mutation was still only present in a sub-population of platelets (median 54%).