Relaxometry and contrast-free cerebral microvascular quantification using balanced steady-state free precession MR fingerprinting.

Purpose: This study proposes a novel, contrast-free Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (MRF) method using balanced Steady-State Free Precession (bSSFP) sequences for the quantification of cerebral blood volume (CBV), vessel radius (R), and relaxometry parameters (T , T , T *) in the brain.

Methods: The technique leverages the sensitivity of bSSFP sequences to intra-voxel frequency distributions in both transient and steady-state regimes. A dictionary-matching process is employed, using simulations of realistic mouse microvascular networks to generate the MRF dictionary.

Penumbral Rescue by normobaric O = O administration in patients with ischemic stroke and target mismatch proFile (PROOF): Study protocol of a phase IIb trial.

Rationale: Oxygen is essential for cellular energy metabolism. Neurons are particularly vulnerable to hypoxia. Increasing oxygen supply shortly after stroke onset could preserve the ischemic penumbra until revascularization occurs.

Endovascular Therapy or Medical Management Alone for Isolated Posterior Cerebral Artery Occlusion: A Multicenter Study.

Background: Whether endovascular therapy (EVT) added on best medical management (BMM), as compared to BMM alone, is beneficial in acute ischemic stroke with isolated posterior cerebral artery occlusion is unknown.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter international observational study of consecutive stroke patients admitted within 6 hours from symptoms onset in 26 stroke centers with isolated occlusion of the first (P1) or second (P2) segment of the posterior cerebral artery and treated either with BMM+EVT or BMM alone. Propensity score with inverse probability of treatment weighting was used to account for baseline between-groups differences.

Safety and Outcome of Revascularization Treatment in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke and COVID-19: The Global COVID-19 Stroke Registry.

Background And Objectives: COVID-19-related inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and coagulopathy may increase the bleeding risk and lower the efficacy of revascularization treatments in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). We aimed to evaluate the safety and outcomes of revascularization treatments in patients with AIS and COVID-19.

Methods: This was a retrospective multicenter cohort study of consecutive patients with AIS receiving intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and/or endovascular treatment (EVT) between March 2020 and June 2021 tested for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection.

Direct admission of stroke in MRI room reduces in-hospital delays and improves recovery.

Purpose: Efficacy of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is strongly time dependent in acute stroke management. We investigated the impact of a direct magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) room admission protocol in order to reduce in-hospital delays.

Methods: We implemented a protocol of direct MRI room admission, bypassing the Emergency Department.

Pearls & Oy-sters: De Novo Seizure and Stroke in the Elderly: The Issue of Chicken and Egg.

Seizures immediately preceding the occurrence of an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke are a rare but well-documented phenomenon, for which the term "heraldic seizure" has been proposed. Cerebrovascular disease is the most common cause of epileptic seizures in elderly patients; thus, screening and management of vascular risk factors should be performed systematically in cases of late-onset epilepsy. MRI may help to distinguish heraldic seizure from stroke-elicited seizure by showing abnormalities confined to the cortex that spare vascular territories, increased magnetic resonance angiography flow in the ipsilateral cerebral arteries, and enhancement of the leptomeninges on postcontrast MRI.