Occipital condyle fracture and lower cranial nerve palsy after blunt head trauma - a literature review and case report.

Background: Lower cranial nerve (IX-XII) palsy is a rare condition with numerous causes, usually non-traumatic. In the literature it has been described only a few times after trauma, mostly accompanied by a fracture of the occipital condyle. Although these types of fractures have rarely been reported one could suspect they have been under-diagnosed.

Analysis of diffusion tensor imaging metrics for gliomas grading at 3 T.

Objectives: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values derived from DTI for grading of glial tumors, and to estimate the correlation between DTI parameters and tumor grades.

Methods: Seventy-eight patients with glial tumors underwent DTI. AD, RD, ADC and FA values of tumor, peritumoral edema and contralateral normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) and AD, RD, ADC and FA ratios: lowest average AD, RD, ADC and FA values in tumor or peritumoral edema to AD, RD, ADC and FA of NAWM were calculated.

Motivation alters response bias and neural activation patterns in a perceptual decision-making task.

Motivation has been demonstrated to affect individuals' response strategies in economic decision-making, however, little is known about how motivation influences perceptual decision-making behavior or its related neural activity. Given the important role motivation plays in shaping our behavior, a better understanding of this relationship is needed. A block-design, continuous performance, perceptual decision-making task where participants were asked to detect a picture of an animal among distractors was used during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Diagnosis of dementia--automatic quantification of brain structures.

Background: The aim of the present study was to examine the usefulness of a fully automatic quantification of brain structures by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for diagnosing dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT).

Material And Method: MRI scans of the brains of 122 patients, referred to a memory clinic, were analysed using Neuroquant® software, which quantifies the volume of various brain structures. Clinical diagnoses were made by two doctors without knowledge of the MRI results.

Associations between variants near a monoaminergic pathways gene (PHOX2B) and amygdala reactivity: a genome-wide functional imaging study.

As the amygdala is part of the phylogenetic old brain, and its anatomical and functional properties are conserved across species, it is reasonable to assume genetic influence on its activity. A large corpus of candidate gene studies indicate that individual differences in amygdala activity may be caused by genetic variants within monoaminergic signaling pathways such as dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine. However, to our knowledge, the use of genome-wide data to discover genetic variants underlying individual differences in adult amygdala activity is novel.

Surgical management of acute odontoid fractures: surgery-related complications and long-term outcomes in a consecutive series of 97 patients.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of surgery for odontoid fractures and to study surgical mortality, surgical morbidity, and long-term outcome in a large, contemporary, consecutive, single-institution, surgical series of odontoid fractures.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of all odontoid fractures treated by open surgery at our hospital during 2002 to 2009. The fractures were classified according to Grauer.

Arousal Modulates Activity in the Medial Temporal Lobe during a Short-Term Relational Memory Task.

This study investigated the effect of arousal on short-term relational memory and its underlying cortical network. Seventeen healthy participants performed a picture by location, short-term relational memory task using emotional pictures. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure the blood-oxygenation-level dependent signal relative to task.

Measurements of diagnostic examination performance and correlation analysis using microvascular leakage, cerebral blood volume, and blood flow derived from 3T dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced perfusion MR imaging in glial tumor grading.

Introduction: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of microvascular leakage (MVL), cerebral blood volume (CBV) and blood flow (CBF) values derived from dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced perfusion MR imaging (DSC-MR imaging) for grading of cerebral glial tumors, and to estimate the correlation between vascular permeability/perfusion parameters and tumor grades.

Methods: A prospective study of 79 patients with cerebral glial tumors underwent DSC-MR imaging. Normalized relative CBV (rCBV) and relative CBF (rCBF) from tumoral (rCBVt and rCBFt), peri-enhancing region (rCBVe and rCBFe), and the value in the tumor divided by the value in the peri-enhancing region (rCBVt/e and rCBFt/e), as well as MVL, expressed as the leakage coefficient K(2) were calculated.

Measurements of diagnostic examination performance using quantitative apparent diffusion coefficient and proton MR spectroscopic imaging in the preoperative evaluation of tumor grade in cerebral gliomas.

Purpose: Tumor grading is very important both in treatment decision and evaluation of prognosis. While tissue samples are obtained as part of most therapeutic approaches, factors that may result in inaccurate grading due to sampling error (namely, heterogeneity in tissue sampling, as well as tumor-grade heterogeneity within the same tumor specimen), have led to a desire to use imaging better to ascertain tumor grade. The purpose in our study was to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), area under the curve (AUC), and accuracy of diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI), proton MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) or both in grading primary cerebral gliomas.

Diagnostic examination performance by using microvascular leakage, cerebral blood volume, and blood flow derived from 3-T dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced perfusion MR imaging in the differentiation of glioblastoma multiforme and brain metastasis.

Introduction: Conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has limited capacity to differentiate between glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and metastasis. The purposes of this study were: (1) to compare microvascular leakage (MVL), cerebral blood volume (CBV), and blood flow (CBF) in the distinction of metastasis from GBM using dynamic susceptibility-weighted contrast-enhanced perfusion MR imaging (DSC-MRI), and (2) to estimate the diagnostic accuracy of perfusion and permeability MR imaging.

Methods: A prospective study of 61 patients (40 GBMs and 21 metastases) was performed at 3 T using DSC-MRI.

Cortical thickness and subcortical volumes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Background: Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are severe psychiatric diseases with overlapping symptomatology. Widespread brain morphologic abnormalities, including cortical thinning and subcortical volume reductions, have been demonstrated in schizophrenia but it is unclear whether similar abnormalities are present in bipolar disorder. The purpose of this study was to compare cortical thickness and subcortical volumes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, to assess differences and similarities in cortical and subcortical brain structure.

Percutaneous intravertebral body embolization of a traumatic spinal epidural arteriovenous fistula with secondary perimedullary venous reflux. A case report.

Arteriovenous fistulas following vertebral fractures are probably very rare. We present a case with fistulous connection between arteries and veins within the fractured 12th thoracic vertebral body with retrograde venous drainage to perimedullary veins resulting in spinal venous hypertension and a cauda equina like symptomatology. Pre-treatment 3D CT enabled us to puncture the venous pouch within the vertebra and deposit glue in the vertebral fistula.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the distinction of high-grade cerebral gliomas from single metastatic brain tumors.

Background: Brain metastases and primary high-grade gliomas, including glioblastomas multiforme (GBM) and anaplastic astrocytomas (AA), may be indistinguishable by conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Identification of these tumors may have therapeutic consequences.

Purpose: To assess the value of MR spectroscopy (MRS) using short and intermediate echo time (TE) in differentiating solitary brain metastases and high-grade gliomas on the basis of differences in metabolite ratios in the intratumoral and peritumoral region.

Quantitative apparent diffusion coefficients in the characterization of brain tumors and associated peritumoral edema.

Background: Conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has a number of limitations in the diagnosis of the most common intracranial brain tumors, including tumor specification and the detection of tumoral infiltration in regions of peritumoral edema.

Purpose: To prospectively assess if diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) could be used to differentiate between different types of brain tumors and to distinguish between peritumoral infiltration in high-grade gliomas, lymphomas, and pure vasogenic edema in metastases and meningiomas.

Material And Methods: MR imaging and DWI was performed on 93 patients with newly diagnosed brain tumors: 59 patients had histologically verified high-grade gliomas (37 glioblastomas multiforme, 22 anaplastic astrocytomas), 23 patients had metastatic brain tumors, five patients had primary cerebral lymphomas, and six patients had meningiomas.

No altered dorsal anterior cingulate activation in bipolar II disorder patients during a Go/No-go task: an fMRI study.

Objectives: It has been reported that one of the core features in patients with bipolar disorder II (BD II) is increased impulsivity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with BD II showed decreased activation in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) as compared to healthy controls when performing a task sensitive to impulsivity.

Methods: Twenty-seven BD II patients and 28 healthy controls performed a Go/No-go task during a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) session.

The human amygdala is involved in general behavioral relevance detection: evidence from an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging Go-NoGo task.

The amygdala is classically regarded as a detector of potential threat and as a critical component of the neural circuitry mediating conditioned fear responses. However, it has been reported that the human amygdala responds to multiple expressions of emotions as well as emotionally neutral stimuli of a novel, uncertain or ambiguous nature. Thus, it has been proposed that the function of the amygdala may be of a more general art, i.

Fluoroscopy-guided sacroplasty: special focus on preoperative planning from three-dimensional computed tomography.

Background: Osteoporotic sacral insufficiency fractures are usually spontaneous or caused by discrete traumas. The fluoroscopic anatomy of the sacrum can be difficult to understand, and this is why sacroplasty is considered more challenging than ordinary vertebroplasties.

Purpose: To demonstrate the planning of the procedure and the effectiveness of treatment with sacroplasty by means of three-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) by combining multiplanar reconstructions (MPR) and volume-rendering technique (VRT).

Aspects of intracerebral hematomas--an update.

Background: In Norway, there are approximately 16000 strokes each year and 15% of these are caused by intracerebral hematomas. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) results from the rupture of blood vessels within the brain parenchyma. ICH occurs as a complication of several diseases, the most prevalent of which is chronic hypertension.

Correlation of head trauma and traumatic aneurysms.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage following severe trauma to the head is relatively common. In most cases the bleed originates from superficial veins and occasionally from arteries. Following the replacement of cerebral angiography with CT in the diagnostic evaluation of head traumas fewer traumatic aneurysms have been observed.

Vascular interventional neuroradiology in a country with a small and scattered population. Twenty years' experience in norway.

Experience with neuroradiological endovascular therapy in a small country is presented. Five Norwegian university hospitals are currently performing coiling of cerebral aneurysms and three are embolizing cerebral arteriovenous malformations. The small number of procedures in most of these institutions may threaten the quality of treatment, education of neuroinradiologists, research and scientific work in this field.

Traumatic aneurysm of the superior cerebellar artery.

Following a head trauma in a 40-year-old male, massive subarachnoid hemorrhage and fractures of the skull base/clivus was found at CT. CT angiography demonstrated an aneurysm on the proximal part of the right superior cerebellar artery. The aneurysm was successfully coiled without any complication and the patient improved clinically during the following three months.

[Brain metastases in adults].

Background And Methods: Brain metastases are far more common than primary central nervous system tumours. Based on our own clinical experiences and relevant literature published over the last decade (Medline), we present an overview of diagnosis and treatment.

Results: Brain metastases are caused by haematogenous spread from extracranial tumours, most frequently from cancers in the lung, breast, melanoma, renal carcinomas and colorectal carcinomas.