Headache-Related Characteristics of Biopsy-Confirmed Giant Cell Arteritis and the Relationship of Transmural Inflammation With Artery Tenderness and Chordal Thickening.

Introduction: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is characterized by headaches, but few studies have examined the detailed characteristics of pathologically confirmed cases. We investigated the characteristics of GCA patients, particularly headache, and their correlation with pathological findings.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 26 patients (median age: 77.

[A case of surfer's myelopathy with serial imaging examination from early stage after onset].

Surfer's myelopathy is non-traumatic spinal cord injury which develops in beginner surfers. The patient was a 17-year-old female who developed severe paraplegia with bilateral sensory dysfunction below the groin and bladder/rectal dysfunctions after her first surfing lesson. A spinal-cord MRI performed six hours after onset revealed an intramedullary hyperintensity area from T8 to the conus medullaris on the T weighted images.

The position of the vertebral artery V1 segment relative to the C7 vertebra.

Background: The vertebral artery (VA) usually enters the transverse foramen at the C6 level. Thus, surgeons prefer to insert pedicle screws (PSs) at C7, but this does not eliminate the risk of VA injury. We aimed to clarify anatomical features of the VA V1 segment at the C7 pedicle level, based on computed tomographic angiography (CTA) of 81 consecutive patients.

Primary Role of the Amygdala in Spontaneous Inflammatory Pain- Associated Activation of Pain Networks - A Chemogenetic Manganese-Enhanced MRI Approach.

Chronic pain is a major health problem, affecting 10-30% of the population in developed countries. While chronic pain is defined as "a persistent complaint of pain lasting for more than the usual period for recovery," recently accumulated lines of evidence based on human brain imaging have revealed that chronic pain is not simply a sustained state of nociception, but rather an allostatic state established through gradually progressing plastic changes in the central nervous system. To visualize the brain activity associated with spontaneously occurring pain during the shift from acute to chronic pain under anesthetic-free conditions, we used manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI) with a 9.

Essential role of endogenous calcitonin gene-related peptide in pain-associated plasticity in the central amygdala.

The role of the neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is well established in nociceptive behaviors. CGRP is highly expressed in the projection pathway from the parabrachial nucleus to the laterocapsular region of the central amygdala (CeC), which plays a critical role in relaying nociceptive information. The CeC is a key structure in pain behavior because it integrates and modulates nociceptive information along with other sensory signals.

Potentiation of NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic transmission at the parabrachial-central amygdala synapses by CGRP in mice.

The capsular part of the central amygdala (CeC) is called the "nociceptive amygdala," as it receives nociceptive information from various pathways, including monosynaptic input from the lateral part of the parabrachial nucleus (LPB), a major target of ascending neurons in the spinal and medullary dorsal horn. LPB-CeC synaptic transmission is mediated by glutamate but the fibers from the LPB also contain calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and the CeC is rich in CGRP-binding sites. CGRP might be released in response to strong nociception and activate these CGRP receptors.