Characterization of the Growth of Deep and Subcortical White Matter Hyperintensity on MR Imaging: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Purpose: In elderly patients, deep and subcortical white matter hyperintense lesions are frequently observed on MRI; however, the growth process of these lesions is unclear. The aims of this retrospective cohort study were to elucidate the growth characteristics of deep and subcortical white matter hyperintense lesions, and to insight their etiology.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled 103 patients (1610 lesions) whose deep and subcortical white matter hyperintense lesions were monitored for 3 or more years by MRI examination.

Correlation between volume and morphological changes in the hippocampal formation in Alzheimer's disease: rounding of the outline of the hippocampal body on coronal MR images.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to investigate whether the outline of the hippocampal body becomes rounded on coronal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the volume of the hippocampal formation decreases in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: Institutional review board approval of the study protocol was obtained, and all subjects provided informed consent for the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and MRI. The MRI and MMSE were prospectively performed in all 103 subjects (27 men and 76 women; mean age ± standard deviation, 77.

Smaller brain size likely in young adults (<40 years old) with depressive symptoms compared to healthy controls: a retrospective study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether the brain size of young patients with depressive symptoms is smaller than that of healthy controls using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively evaluated brain size by calculating the ratio of the brain area to that of the skull (the brain-to-skull ratio) on routine MRI scans including the splenium of the corpus callosum obtained from 19 patients <40 years old with depressive symptoms in 2009. The controls were 12 healthy individuals <40 years old who underwent MRI for medical examinations.

Rounding of the hippocampus in Alzheimer's disease: a study by routine coronal magnetic resonance imaging.

Purpose: On routine coronal images, we have recognized atrophied hippocampi that appear round in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate rounding of the hippocampus in patients with AD and to elucidate whether this change is a useful radiological marker of atrophy of the hippocampus.

Materials And Methods: We enrolled 14 patients with moderate AD (Mini-Mental State Examination score 16.

Upper midbrain profile sign and cingulate sulcus sign: MRI findings on sagittal images in idiopathic normal-pressure hydrocephalus, Alzheimer's disease, and progressive supranuclear palsy.

Purpose: On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sagittal sections, we sometimes encounter abnormal aspects of the superior profile of the midbrain and the cingulate sulcus in patients with dementia. In this preliminary study, we refer to these findings as the "upper midbrain profile sign" and the "cingulate sulcus sign." We prospectively evaluated the usefulness of these signs for the diagnosis of idiopathic normal-pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).

MR findings of cerebral white matter in Cockayne syndrome.

The characteristic magnetic resonance (MR) findings of Cockayne syndrome have been reported; however, the corresponding characteristics on diffusion-weighted and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) imaging are yet to be documented. In this adult case with Cockayne syndrome, we identified small patchy subcortical lesions visualized as areas of high intensity on diffusion-weighted images and low intensity on FLAIR images. It is possible that these findings reflect active demyelinating lesions.

Cerebellar atrophy attributed to cerebellitis in two patients.

In a review of magnetic resonance (MR) images from patients with spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD), we found 2 rare patients considered to be in late-stage cerebellitis who showed isolated cerebellar atrophy. The patients were negative for the spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) genes and had no symptoms of hypothyroidism, history of malignant tumors, or history of alcohol and drug (phenytoin) abuse, which may cause cerebellar atrophy. MR images demonstrated generalized atrophy of the cerebellum, excluding the brainstem or cerebrum.

Morning glory sign: a particular MR finding in progressive supranuclear palsy.

Background And Purpose: We have encountered a peculiar atrophic change in the midbrain in some patients with parkinsonian syndromes. We discovered these patients had vertical supranuclear gaze-palsy, an eye movement disorder. The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether this atrophic pattern of the midbrain (which we have termed morning glory sign) is related to the vertical eye movement disorder, in particular to progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).

Asymptomatic hereditary Alexander's disease caused by a novel mutation in GFAP.

We report on a family with dominantly inherited asymptomatic Alexander's disease due to a novel Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) mutation. The proband, a 16-month-old boy, presented with megalocephaly and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showing the typical findings of Alexander's disease. Molecular analysis showed that he was a heterozygote of the L331P mutation of GFAP.

[Usefulness of 3D conformal radiation therapy for reduction of radiation-induced white matter injury].

Purpose: The usefulness of three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy(3DCRT) in decreasing radiation-induced white matter changes(WMC) was assessed.

Material And Methods: Thirty-seven patients(age 5-77 years, mean 42 years; male/female = 11/26) with primary intracranial tumors received 40 Gy or more, and were followed up with MRI for more than one year. Thirty-four patients underwent chemotherapy(with a platinum drug, 16; without a platinum drug, 18).

[Basi-parallel anatomical scanning (BPAS) MRI: a simple MRI technique for demonstrating the surface appearance of the intracranial vertebrobasilar artery].

We modified surface anatomy scanning (SAS) MRI to reveal the surface appearance of the vertebrobasilar artery in the cistern. Two-cm-thick heavily T2-weighted coronal imaging using the fast spin-echo sequence with gray-scale reversal in post-processing was best for our purposes. Basi-parallel anatomical scanning (BPAS) MRI could clearly demonstrate fusiform aneurysm and its disappearance at the acutely occluded segment of the dissected vertebral artery.

Morphology of the inner structure of the hippocampal formation in Alzheimer disease.

Background And Purpose: To our knowledge, inner structural alterations of the hippocampus have never been demonstrated because of the lack of contrast between the hippocampus proper and the superficial medullary lamina. We sought to demonstrate the anatomic details of the inner hippocampus and to elucidate its alterations in Alzheimer disease (AD) in vivo.

Methods: We obtained multishot diffusion- and T2-weighted MR images in 14 healthy control subjects and 26 patients with mild or moderate AD (diagnosis based on Mini-Mental Status Examination scores).

Topographical alterations of the midbrain and the substantia nigra following unilateral posteroventral pallidotomy in patients with Parkinson's disease using routine and multishot diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging.

To determine whether posteroventral pallidotomy (PVP) induces topographical changes of the ipsilateral midbrain and degeneration of the substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease patients, we obtained magnetic resonance (MR) images of 18 patients who had undergone PVP and measured the width of the cerebral peduncle at the mid-point of the inner margin. Then, we assessed MR signal changes in the substantia nigra on T2-weighted images in all patients and on multishot diffusion-weighted images in seven patients. In MR images taken within 1 year of PVP, a comparison between the ratio of the ipsilateral side/contralateral side of the cerebral peduncle of patients after PVP and that of the unaffected side/affected side in the preoperative images revealed no significant difference ( P>0.

Granular cell tumor of the spinal nerve root: MR findings.

We report granular cell tumor in the right SI nerve root, a location which has not been reported previously. The tumor showed heterogeneous hypointensity on T2-weighted images and heterogeneous enhancement. MRI also demonstrated the precise relation between the tumor and the nerve root.