Unusual MR findings of the brain stem in arterial hypertension.

MR imaging findings have been reported in only a few cases of severe arterial hypertension. We report two cases of severe paroxysmal arterial hypertension associated with unusual brain stem hyperintensity. The lesions improved dramatically after stabilization of blood pressure, suggesting that edema could be the main cause of the MR imaging-observed hyperintensity.

Contrast-enhanced MR angiography of the craniocervical vessels: a review.

The use of MR angiography (MRA) with injection of contrast medium enables imaging of a large volume with a very short acquisition time, providing angiographic images similar to those obtained with catheter angiography. This makes possible investigation of patients in the acute phase of stroke, with examination of the entire length of the cervical arteries from the aortic arch to the circle of Willis. However, the parameters of the sequence must be carefully chosen to optimise image quality, with a compromise between spatial resolution, acquisition time and image contrast.

[Clinical aspects and treatment of dural-spinal arteriovenous fistulas with perimedullary venous drainage. 10 cases].

Background And Purpose: Spinal dural arteriovenous fistulas (SDAVF) are rare but represent the most frequent spinal arteriovenous malformation. Their clinical manifestations are well known, but their management can still be discussed between surgery and endovascular treatment. The purpose of this study is to emphasize the pre-eminence of surgical management for posterior and postero-lateral fistulas, which are the most common location of the malformation.

Preliminary experience using contrast-enhanced MR angiography to assess vertebral artery structure for the follow-up of suspected dissection.

Background And Purpose: Important advances have been made recently in MR angiography with the use of contrast medium injection, which has proved valuable for the imaging of vertebral arteries (VAs) obtained during short scanning times. Our purpose was to assess the feasability of contrast-enhanced fast 3D MR angiography for imaging VAs and to evaluate the long-term follow-up of VA dissections.

Methods: Sixteen consecutive patients with 18 angiographically documented VA dissections (seven occlusive dissections and 11 stenotic dissections, including two each with a pseudoaneurysm) were followed up using both contrast-enhanced 3D MR angiography and cervical T1-weighted MR imaging at a median delay of 22 months.

[Neurological examination and brain computed tomography in the initial staging of non-small-cell lung cancer: a prospective study].

Brain metastases occur in 17 to 40% of lung carcinoma and 30 to 60% of brain metastases originate from a lung carcinoma. Brain metastasis directly influences prognosis and treatment of lung cancer. The aim of this study was to prospectively compare the findings of the neurological examination performed by a neurologist and results of double dose delayed computed tomography (CT DDD).

[Cerebral angiography: a study of complications in 450 consecutive procedures].

Purpose: To evaluate all types of complications, both minor and major, associated with modern cerebral angiography.

Materials And Methods: A prospective study of 450 consecutive cerebral angiographic procedures is reported.

Results: One patient (0.

Endovascular treatment of ruptured intracranial aneurysms.

The Guglielmi detachable coil (GDC) is an important tool for the treatment of ruptured intracranial aneuryms by an endovascular approach. This new device may be introduced under fluoroscopy into the aneurysmal sac through a microcatheter. When the coil is judged well positioned, it can be detached with accuracy by electrolytic breakdown.

Control functions of the frontal lobes. Modularity of the central-supervisory system?

Lesions of the prefrontal cortex result in a wide variety of neuropsychological disorders. Despite recent advances, the executive processes and their functional architecture remain poorly specified. This study assessed control processes operating in novel, conflicting and combined tasks in patients with lesion of the prefrontal or posterior cortices.

Internal carotid arterial stenosis: CT angiography with volume rendering.

Purpose: To determine the reliability of helical computed tomography (CT) with volume rendering for evaluation of internal carotid arterial stenosis.

Materials And Methods: In 22 patients, 44 carotid arteries were evaluated with helical CT and selective conventional angiography. CT data were displayed on volume-rendered and maximum intensity projection (MIP) images.

Gadolinium-enhanced fast three-dimensional angiography of the neck: technical aspect.

Rational And Objectives: This study sought to assess the feasibility of a contrast-enhanced three-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance (MR) angiographic sequence for imaging the cervical arteries.

Methods: Ninety-eight consecutive patients underwent contrast MR angiography using a 3D sequence in the coronal plane, including both carotid and vertebral arteries. Gadolinium was injected at the beginning of the sequence.

Dystonia after striatopallidal and thalamic stroke: clinicoradiological correlations and pathophysiological mechanisms.

Objective: To establish the pathophysiological mechanisms of striatopallidal and thalamic dystonia.

Methods: Five patients from among 26 who presented (between March 1987 and July 1996) with focal dystonia, segmental dystonia, or hemidystonia caused by a single localised vascular lesion, were selected. Patients with lesions with indefinite boundaries, and diffuse, or multiple, or large brain lesions were excluded.

Medial temporal lobe atrophy in stroke patients: relation to pre-existing dementia.

Objective: The links between stroke and Alzheimer's disease seem to be closer than expected by chance. In a previous study it was shown that up to 16% of patients admitted for stroke had pre-existing dementia. Medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTLA) is strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease.

[Residual deficit of verbal recall after a left internal cerebral vein infarct].

A case of unilateral infarct in the territory of the left internal cerebral vein, severely disturbing cognitive processes, and more especially recall in verbal memory, is reported. This 22-year-old patient survived a left thalamic and striato-capsular infarct related to a straight sinus and left internal cerebral vein thrombosis. Motor and functional recovery was fair, despite late dystonia.

Contrast-enhanced three-dimensional fast imaging with steady-state precession (FISP) MR angiography of supraaortic vessels: preliminary results.

Background And Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of contrast-enhanced fast three-dimensional (3D) MR angiography in depicting both the carotid and vertebral arteries in their cervical portions and to compare MR angiography with conventional angiography for the evaluation of arteriosclerotic disease.

Methods: Twenty-seven patients with ischemic cerebral events in the anterior (n = 18) and posterior (n = 9) circulation underwent contrast-enhanced 3D MR angiography in the coronal plane. MR angiograms were examined in a blinded fashion by two observers independently.

[Contribution of fast-sequence three-dimensional MRI angiography with Gadolinium injection in the evaluation of supra-aortic vessels].

Sixty-nine patients with cervical atherosclerotic disease were evaluated by Magnetic Resonance (MR) angiography using a coronal 3D gradient echo gadolinium enhanced sequence. The image quality was evaluated for each artery and ostium on MIP reconstructions. A comparison with conventional angiography was achieved in 27 patients.

[Retrograde memory after rupture of aneurysms of the anterior communicating artery].

The aim of this study was to investigate deficits of retrograde memory, semantic, autobiographical, and for famous events, associated with prefrontal, cingulate and subcortical lesions resulting from anterior communicating artery rupture. Analyses were performed during the secondary phase post-stroke in 16 patients, and performances were compared to those of an equivalent number of matched control subjects. Semantic investigations revealed a significant deficit in each task using evocation, more especially categorical and literal evocations, and the verbal subtests of the WAIS-R: vocabulary, information, comprehension, and similarities.

Helical CT for the follow-up of cervical internal carotid artery dissections.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the changes over time of internal carotid artery (ICA) dissections by using helical CT.

Methods: Twenty-seven patients with 30 angiographically proved ICA dissections were followed up with helical CT at 7 to 62 months (median, 24 months) after conventional angiography. CT scans, analyzed independently by two radiologists in a blinded fashion, were evaluated for the presence of mural thickening, aneurysmal formation, and arterial occlusion.

Unusual MRI findings in grey matter heterotopia.

We report unusual MRI patterns in patients with grey matter heterotopia. Standard T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo and inversion-recovery sequences were used in 22 patients presenting with seizures or developmental delay. The images were reviewed for signal change surrounding white matter and for atypical size, morphology or topography.

Duplication of the pituitary gland in a newborn with median cleft face syndrome and nasal teratoma.

A newborn suffered immediate neonatal respiratory distress because of an obstructive, soft-tissue nasal mass. Clinical examination revealed a cleft palate with a protruding polypoid mass. CT and MRI showed a heterogeneous nasopharyngeal mass and associated intracranial abnormalities - duplication of the hypophysis and hypoplasia of the corpus callosum.

Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging in patients with or without antiphospholipid antibodies.

Objective: To determine in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or with primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS) the prevalence of cerebral magnetic resonance imaging changes (MRI) and the relationship with antiphospholipid antibodies.

Methods: Twenty-nine consecutive SLE patients, 24 PAPS patients and 31 healthy controls were prospectively included in the study and underwent MRI Scan over a 1-year period. MRI scans were analyzed separately by a neuroradiologist for white matter changes [periventricular hyperintensity (PVH) (0-6 scale), deep white matter hyperintensity (WMH) (0-24 scale)], and one neurologist for cerebral atrophy (0-39 scale) and stroke subtypes.

Explicit memory in frontotemporal dementia: the role of medial temporal atrophy.

In our memory clinic experience, memory impairment differs widely in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We searched for a correlation between explicit memory disturbance assessed with the Grober and Buschke test and medial temporal atrophy on CT scan in 22 consecutive patients with FTD. Five of the 22 patients had a medial temporal lobe (MTL) atrophy.

[Study of the carotid artery bifurcation using a helical scanner].

Helical CT is a new technology leading to a rapid acquisition of a large volume during the peak of intravascular enhancement. Indications are large in vascular pathology due to the possibilities of three dimensional (3D) reconstructions providing angiogram-like images. To assess carotid bifurcations, this examination needs the choice of multiple parameters for acquisition (collimation, table speed, can time), injection (volume of contrast material, rate, scan delay) and reconstruction (increment, field of view).