Heart-brain microvascular MRI study: protocol for a multicentre, observational, cohort study in the UK assessing associations between small vessel disease of the heart and brain.

Introduction: Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and cerebrovascular disease are leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is a leading cause of dementia and stroke. While coronary small vessel disease (coronary microvascular dysfunction) causes microvascular angina and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality.

Dosimetric comparison of hippocampal-sparing technologies in patients with low-grade glioma.

Background: Radiotherapy (RT) plays an integral role in the management of low-grade gliomas (LGG). Late toxicity from RT can cause progressive neurocognitive dysfunction. Radiation-induced damage to the hippocampus (HCP) plays a considerable role in memory decline.

Slice-specific B shimming improves the repeatability of multishot DWI at 7 T.

Purpose: Compared with lower field strengths, DWI at 7 T faces the combined challenges of increased distortion and blurring due to B inhomogeneity, and increased signal dropouts due to B inhomogeneity. This study addresses the B limitations using slice-specific static parallel transmission (pTx) in a multi-shot, readout-segmented EPI diffusion imaging sequence.

Methods: DWI was performed in 7 healthy subjects using MRI at 7 T and readout-segmented EPI.

Leigh syndrome: an adult presentation of a paediatric disease.

A previously healthy 27-year-old man was admitted to the acute neurology ward with events involving his face, throat and upper limb, which video telemetry later confirmed were refractory focal seizures. He also had progressive pyramidal features, dysarthria and ataxia. MR scans of the brain identified progressive bilateral basal ganglia abnormalities, consistent with Leigh syndrome.

Alcohol and the central nervous system.

Ethanol use is common to most cultures but with varying doses and to varying extents. While research has focused on the effects on the liver, alcohol exerts a range of actions on the function and structure of the nervous system. In the central nervous system (CNS) it can provoke or exacerbate neurological and psychiatric disease; its effects on the peripheral nervous system are not included in this review.

Two cases of SMA syndrome after neurosurgical injury to the frontal aslant tract.

Supplementary motor area (SMA) syndrome is characterised by transient disturbance in volitional movement and speech production which classically occurs after injury to the medial premotor area. We present two cases of SMA syndrome following isolated surgical injury to the frontal aslant tract (FAT) with the SMA intact. The first case occurred after resection of a left frontal operculum tumour.

Modafinil in the rehabilitation of a patient with post-surgical posterior fossa syndrome: a lesson to be learned?

Disorders of the cerebellum may present with motor, cognitive, behavioral and affective symptoms. There is a growing interest in developing neuroanatomical models of symptoms generation that involve the cerebellum and the cerebello-cortical connections. We describe an exciting first case report of successful use of Modafinil in an adult patient with post-operative posterior fossa syndrome.

Targeted radiotherapy: microgray doses and the bystander effect.

Indirect effects may contribute to the efficacy of radiotherapy by sterilizing malignant cells that are not directly irradiated. However, little is known of the influence of indirect effects in targeted radionuclide treatment. We compared gamma-radiation-induced bystander effects with those resulting from exposure to three radiohaloanalogues of meta-iodoben-zylguanidine (MIBG): [(131)I]MIBG (low linear energy transfer (LET) alpha-emitter), [(123)I]MIBG (high LET Auger electron emitter), and meta-[(211)At]astatobenzylguanidine ([(211)At]MABG) (high LET alpha-emitter).

Comparison of radiohaloanalogues of meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) for a combined gene- and targeted radiotherapy approach to bladder carcinoma.

Targeted radiotherapy using radiolabelled meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) is a promising treatment option for bladder cancer, restricting the effects of radiotherapy to malignant cells thereby increasing efficacy and decreasing morbidity of radiotherapy. We investigated the efficacy of a combined gene therapy and targeted radiotherapy approach for bladder cancer using radiolabelled MIBG. The effectiveness of alternative radiohalogens and alternative preparations of radiolabelled MIBG for this therapeutic strategy were compared.

Radiation-induced biologic bystander effect elicited in vitro by targeted radiopharmaceuticals labeled with alpha-, beta-, and auger electron-emitting radionuclides.

Unlabelled: Recent studies have shown that indirect effects of ionizing radiation may contribute significantly to the effectiveness of radiotherapy by sterilizing malignant cells that are not directly hit by the radiation. However, there have been few investigations of the importance of indirect effects in targeted radionuclide treatment. Our purpose was to compare the induction of bystander effects by external beam gamma-radiation with those resultant from exposure to 3 radiohaloanalogs of metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG): (131)I-MIBG (low-linear-energy-transfer [LET] beta-emitter), (123)I-MIBG (potentially high-LET Auger electron emitter), and meta-(211)At-astatobenzylguanidine ((211)At-MABG) (high-LET alpha-emitter).

Gene manipulation to enhance MIBG-targeted radionuclide therapy.

The goal of targeted radionuclide therapy is the deposition in malignant cells of sterilizing doses of radiation without damaging normal tissue. The radiopharmaceutical [(131)I]meta-iodobenzylguanidine ([(131)I]MIBG) is an effective single agent for the treatment of neuroblastoma. However, uptake of the drug in malignant sites is insufficient to cure disease.

Application of targeted radiotherapy/gene therapy to bladder cancer cell lines.

Objectives: A targeted radiotherapy/gene therapy strategy for transitional cell carcinoma of bladder is described, using [131I]meta-iodobenzylguanidine ([131I]MIBG), a radionuclide combined with a tumour-seeking drug. The aim is to decrease side effects from radiation toxicity, while increasing radiation dose to tumour. This tumour cell kill approach is augmented by radiological bystander effects.