Preterm infants' early growth and brain white matter maturation at term age.

Background: Normal intrauterine conditions are essential to normal brain growth and development; premature birth and growth restriction can interrupt brain maturation. Maturation processes can be studied using diffusion tensor imaging.

Objective: The aim of this study was to use tract-based spatial statistics to assess the effect that early postnatal growth from birth to 40 gestational weeks has on brain white matter maturation.

Measurement of brown adipose tissue mass using a novel dual-echo magnetic resonance imaging approach: a validation study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate and validate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the visualization and quantification of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in vivo in a rat model. We hypothesized that, based on differences in tissue water and lipid content, MRI could reliably differentiate between BAT and white adipose tissue (WAT) and could therefore be a possible alternative for (18)F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography ((18)FDG-PET), the current gold standard for non-invasive BAT quantification.

Materials/methods: Eleven rats were studied using both (18)FDG-PET/CT and MRI (1.

Effect of antenatal growth on brain white matter maturation in preterm infants at term using tract-based spatial statistics.

Background: White matter maturation of infants can be studied using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). DTI of the white matter of the infant brain provides the best available clinical measures of brain tissue organisation and integrity.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare white matter maturation between preterm infants born small for gestational age (SGA) and preterms with weight appropriate for gestational age (AGA) at birth.

Fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity parameters of the brain white matter tracts in preterm infants: reproducibility of region-of-interest measurements.

Background: Diffusion tensor parameters can be analysed by fitting regions of interest (ROIs) to selected brain structures. The clinical usefulness of these measurements is influenced by their reproducibility and validity.

Objective: To investigate the reproducibility of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) measurements.

Liver and pancreatic fat content and metabolism in healthy monozygotic twins with discordant physical activity.

Background & Aims: Ectopic fat in muscle and liver is linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Recently, pancreatic lipid accumulation has also been associated with β-cell dysfunction and reduced insulin production, leading to the development of type 2 diabetes. Physical exercise training has been shown to attenuate β-cell dysfunction in patients, but little is known about its effects on pancreatic and hepatic fat accumulation.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: rapid evaluation of liver fat content with in-phase and out-of-phase MR imaging.

Purpose: To evaluate in-phase and out-of-phase magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the estimation of liver fat content (LFC) in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), with hydrogen ((1)H) MR spectroscopy as the reference standard.

Materials And Methods: Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects, and the local ethics committee approved this prospective study protocol. A total of 33 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were at high risk for NAFLD (23 men, 10 women; overall mean age, 62.

Inverse association between liver fat content and hepatic glucose uptake in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The objective of this research was to study (1) the mutual relationship between liver fat content (LFC) and hepatic glucose uptake (HGU) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and (2) the relationship between changes in LFC and HGU uptake induced by rosiglitazone in these patients. Liver fat was measured with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and insulin-stimulated HGU with [(18)F]-labeled 2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography in 54 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 8 healthy subjects. Measurements were repeated in diabetic patients after a 16-week intervention period with rosiglitazone (n = 27) or placebo (n = 27).

Quantitative liver iron measurement by magnetic resonance imaging: in vitro and in vivo assessment of the liver to muscle signal intensity and the R2* methods.

Purpose: To evaluate the liver-to-muscle signal intensity and R2* methods to gain a transferable, clinical application for liver iron measurement.

Materials And Methods: Sixteen liver phantoms and 33 human subjects were examined using three 1.5-T MRI scanners from two different vendors.

Myocardial triglyceride content and epicardial fat mass in human obesity: relationship to left ventricular function and serum free fatty acid levels.

Context And Objective: Ectopic fat accumulation within and around the myocardial wall has been implicated in the pathogenesis of heart disease in obesity. We evaluated myocardial and epicardial fat, left ventricular (LV) function, and metabolic risk factors in nine (five lean, four moderately obese) men.

Methods: Myocardial fat percent was quantified in the septum by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

T1rho Dispersion profile of rat tissues in vitro at very low locking fields.

The purpose of this study was to show the T(1rho) dispersion profile in various rat tissues (liver, brain, spleen, kidney, heart and skeletal muscle) at low (0.1 T) B(0) field at very low locking field B1, starting from 10 microT. The T(1rho) dispersion profile showed a quite similar pattern in all tissues.

Comparison of MRI and positron emission tomography for measuring myocardial perfusion reserve in healthy humans.

Myocardial perfusion reserve (MPR, defined as the ratio of the maximum myocardial blood flow (MBF) to the baseline) is an indicator of coronary artery disease and myocardial microvascular abnormalities. First-pass contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) using gadolinium (Gd)-DTPA as a contrast agent (CA) has been used to assess MPR. Tracer kinetic models based on compartmental analysis of the CA uptake have been developed to provide quantitative measures of MBF by MRI.

Liver steatosis coexists with myocardial insulin resistance and coronary dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) is a common comorbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes and links to the risk of coronary syndromes. The aim was to determine the manifestations of metabolic syndrome in different organs in patients with liver steatosis. We studied 55 type 2 diabetic patients with coronary artery disease using positron emission tomography.

Quantitative HMRS and MRI volumetry indicate neuronal damage in the hippocampus of children with focal epilepsy and infrequent seizures.

Purpose: Seizures induce progressive morphologic and functional changes in particular in the hippocampus, but whether and at what stage the hippocampus is affected in children with focal, temporal, nonintractable epilepsy is poorly known. We have now studied eventual metabolic and volume changes in the hippocampus of children with nonsymptomatic focal epilepsy taking antiepileptic medication (AEDs) but still having infrequent seizures.

Methods: Quantitative proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)HMRS) and volumetric MRI were used to study the hippocampal region of 11 pediatric outpatients (age 10 to 17 years) with cryptogenic localization-related epilepsy, and eight healthy volunteers (age 9 to 16 years) served as controls.