Cardiovascular risk and preclinical atherosclerosis are associated with white matter hyperintensities in apparently healthy adults: the population-based cross-sectional BIALYSTOK PLUS study.

Introduction: White matter hyperintensities, present in patients and asymptomatic individuals, have been previously shown to be associated with atherosclerosis risk factors, such as high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, and diabetes.

Objectives: Our aim was to examine the associations between the volume of white matter hyperintensities and cardiovascular risk factors in the general, apparently healthy population.

Patients And Methods: The analysis includes 735 participants (aged 20 to 79 years) without neurological or severe cardiac diseases.

Predicting clinical progression and cognitive decline in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a 6-year follow-up study.

Introduction: Cognitive impairment occurs from the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis (MS) and progresses over time. The introduction of disease modifying therapies (DMTs) has changed the prognosis for MS patients, offering a potential opportunity for improvement in the cognitive arena as well.

Material And Methods: 41 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) were recruited to the study.

Bone mineral density loci specific to the skull portray potential pleiotropic effects on craniosynostosis.

Skull bone mineral density (SK-BMD) provides a suitable trait for the discovery of key genes in bone biology, particularly to intramembranous ossification, not captured at other skeletal sites. We perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis (n ~ 43,800) of SK-BMD, identifying 59 loci, collectively explaining 12.5% of the trait variance.

Customizable tubular model for n-furcating blood vessels and its application to 3D reconstruction of the cerebrovascular system.

Understanding the 3D cerebral vascular network is one of the pressing issues impacting the diagnostics of various systemic disorders and is helpful in clinical therapeutic strategies. Unfortunately, the existing software in the radiological workstation does not meet the expectations of radiologists who require a computerized system for detailed, quantitative analysis of the human cerebrovascular system in 3D and a standardized geometric description of its components. In this study, we show a method that uses 3D image data from magnetic resonance imaging with contrast to create a geometrical reconstruction of the vessels and a parametric description of the reconstructed segments of the vessels.

Paramagnetic rims are a promising diagnostic imaging biomarker in multiple sclerosis.

Background: White matter lesions (WMLs) on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in multiple sclerosis (MS) may contribute to misdiagnosis. In chronic active lesions, peripheral iron-laden macrophages appear as paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs).

Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of PRLs in differentiating MS from mimics using clinical 3T MRI scanners.

Neural correlates of orbital telorism.

Orbital telorism, the interocular distance, is clinically informative and in extremes is considered a minor physical anomaly. While its extremes, hypo- and hypertelorism, have been linked to disorders often related to cognitive ability, little is known about the neural correlates of normal variation of telorism within the general population. We derived measures of orbital telorism from cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by calculating the distance between the eyeball center of gravity in two population-based datasets (N = 5,653, N = 29,824; mean age 64.

Blood flow rate estimation in optic disc capillaries and vessels using Doppler optical coherence tomography with 3D fast phase unwrapping.

The retinal volumetric flow rate contains useful information not only for ophthalmology but also for the diagnosis of common civilization diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, or cerebrovascular diseases. Non-invasive optical methods for quantitative flow assessment, such as Doppler optical coherence tomography (OCT), have certain limitations. One is the phase wrapping that makes simultaneous calculations of the flow in all human retinal vessels impossible due to a very large span of flow velocities.

Long-term brain status and cognitive impairment in children treated for high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia with and without allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: A single-center study.

Aim: The aim of the study was to assess long-term consequences of central nervous system (CNS) prophylaxis in patients with high-risk ALL (HR-ALL) treated according to ALL IC-BFM 2002 and to compare observed abnormalities in patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) with those who received only prophylactic CNS irradiation (12 Gy) and with control group.

Patients And Methods: We studied 29 patients with HR-ALL in CR1 after treatment according to protocol ALL IC-BFM 2002 (14 with allo-HSCT conditioned with fractionated total body irradiation [FTBI] and 15 without HSCT) and 16 children with newly diagnosed ALL (control group). The median time from therapy completion to evaluation was 5 years.

Evaluation of the Central Vein Sign as a Diagnostic Imaging Biomarker in Multiple Sclerosis.

Importance: The central vein sign has been proposed as a specific imaging biomarker for distinguishing between multiple sclerosis (MS) and not MS, mainly based on findings from ultrahigh-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies. The diagnostic value of the central vein sign in a multicenter setting with a variety of clinical 3 tesla (T) MRI protocols, however, remains unknown.

Objective: To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of various central vein sign lesion criteria for differentiating MS from non-MS conditions using 3T brain MRI with various commonly used pulse sequences.

Spatial distribution of white matter degenerative lesions and cognitive dysfunction in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess degenerative lesion localisation in the course of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and to identify the association between localisation and the frequency of T1-hypointense lesions (black holes) with cognitive dysfunction. We also searched for neuroradiological predictors of cognitive dysfunction in patients. The clinical rationale for the study was previous research, and our own findings suggest that lesion localisation plays an important role in cognitive performance and neurological disability of MS patients.

Immune-cell BDNF expression in treatment-naïve relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients and following one year of immunomodulation therapy.

Although neurons are the main source of neurotrophins in the healthy brain, neurotrophins can also be expressed in the immune system. We have previously shown that in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) lower immune-cell neurotrophin levels are associated with brain atrophy and cognitive impairment. The aim of the present study was to assess if immune-cell neurotrophin expression is impaired in MS as compared with the healthy controls, and to describe if these levels change in treatment-naïve RRMS patients, following one year of immunomodulation.

Immune Cell Neurotrophin Production Is Associated with Subcortical Brain Atrophy in Neuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients.

Objective: Central nervous system (CNS) involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains poorly understood. Damage within the CNS is driven by the autoimmune response; however, immunopathophysiology of neuropsychiatric (NP) SLE is multifactorial. Immune cell neurotrophin production could be neuroprotective against autoimmunity-driven CNS damage, as has been shown in multiple sclerosis.

Unique Neural Characteristics of Atypical Lateralization of Language in Healthy Individuals.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 63 healthy participants, including left-handed and ambidextrous individuals, we tested how atypical lateralization of language-i. e., bilateral or right hemispheric language representation-differs from the typical left-hemisphere dominance.

Long-term brain structural magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive functioning in children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia with high-dose methotrexate chemotherapy alone or combined with CNS radiotherapy at reduced total dose to 12 Gy.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the long-term side effects of central nervous system prophylaxis (high-dose chemotherapy alone vs chemotherapy and CNS radiotherapy) according to the ALL IC-BFM 2002.

Methods: Thirty-tree children aged 6.7-19.

Cerebellar Volume in Children With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with altered cerebellar volume and cerebellum is associated with cognitive performance. However there are mixed results regarding the cerebellar volume in young patients with ADHD. To clarify the size and direction of this effect, we conducted the analysis on the large public database of brain images.

Serum sPECAM-1 and sVCAM-1 levels are associated with conversion to multiple sclerosis in patients with optic neuritis.

Platelet-Endothelial-Cell-Adhesion-Molecule-1 (PECAM-1) and Human-Vascular-CAM-1 (VCAM-1) are adhesion molecules involved in leukocyte-endothelial interaction. In our study serum levels of sPECAM-1 and sVCAM-1 were measured (ELISA) in twenty-nine patients during their first monosymptomatic optic neuritis (ON) episode. Anti-aquaporin-4-antibodies (AQP4-IgG) were detected with the cell-based assay.

Basal Ganglia Volumes: MR-Derived Reference Ranges and Lateralization Indices for Children and Young Adults.

SUMMARY - Previous studies indicate rightward asymmetry of the caudate nucleus (CN) volume and leftward asymmetry of the putamen (PN) and globus pallidus (GP). This study aimed to estimate reference ranges for basal ganglia asymmetry in a large cohort of healthy individuals (n= 949), aged seven to 21 years. MRI images of 949 (320 female, mean age 12.

Anosognosia for hemiplegia: The contributory role of right inferior frontal gyrus.

Objective: Awareness of motor functioning is most likely a complex process that requires integration of sensory-motor feedback to constantly update the system on the functioning of the limb during motor behavior. Using lesion mapping procedures and behavioral measures, the current study aimed to evaluate neural correlates of anosognosia for hemiplegia (AHP) in the acute stage (first 48 hr) of right hemisphere stroke.

Method: Thirty-five individuals with right hemisphere stroke who presented to an urban medical center within 24 hr of symptom onset were included in the study.

Cognitive deficit is related to immune-cell beta-NGF in multiple sclerosis patients.

Objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS), causing cognitive impairment in 45-65% of patients. Beta-NGF facilitates proper cholinergic transmission in the healthy CNS. In MS-damaged tissue there is a relative deficit of neurotrophins that might be compensated by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) synthesis.