Application of mask images of contrast-enhanced MR angiography to detect carotid intraplaque hemorrhage in patients with moderate to severe symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid stenosis.

Purpose: Carotid intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) on MRI predicts stroke. Magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition gradient (MP-RAGE) is widely used to detect IPH. CE-MRA is used routinely to assess stenosis.

Carotid Plaque-RADS: A Novel Stroke Risk Classification System.

Background: Carotid artery atherosclerosis is highly prevalent in the general population and is a well-established risk factor for acute ischemic stroke. Although the morphological characteristics of vulnerable plaques are well recognized, there is a lack of consensus in reporting and interpreting carotid plaque features.

Objectives: The aim of this paper is to establish a consistent and comprehensive approach for imaging and reporting carotid plaque by introducing the Plaque-RADS (Reporting and Data System) score.

Domain-specific neuropsychological investigation of CAA with and without intracerebral haemorrhage.

Background: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is associated with cognitive impairment, but the contributions of lobar intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH), underlying diffuse vasculopathy, and neurodegeneration, remain uncertain. We investigated the domain-specific neuropsychological profile of CAA with and without ICH, and their associations with structural neuroimaging features.

Methods: Data were collected from patients with possible or probable CAA attending a specialist outpatient clinic.

Neuroimaging findings in 4342 hospitalized COVID-19 subjects: A multicenter report from the United States and Europe.

Background And Purpose: To determine the incidence of acute neuroimaging (NI) findings and comorbidities in the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19)-infected subjects in seven U.S. and four European hospitals.

Accelerated vascular aging: Ethnic differences in basilar artery length and diameter, and its association with cardiovascular risk factors and cerebral small vessel disease.

Background And Aims: Risk of stroke and dementia is markedly higher in people of South Asian and African Caribbean descent than white Europeans in the UK. This is unexplained by cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF). We hypothesized this might indicate accelerated early vascular aging (EVA) and that EVA might account for stronger associations between cerebral large artery characteristics and markers of small vessel disease.

Brain changes after COVID-19 - how concerned should we be?

Analysis of brain images taken before and after infection with SARS-CoV-2 suggests that even mild COVID-19 is associated with brain structure alterations and cognitive impairment. However, the clinical implications for individuals are unclear and further studies are needed to assess the generalizability of the findings and whether the effects are long-lasting.

Magnetic resonance imaging-based scores of small vessel diseases: Associations with intracerebral haemorrhage location.

Introduction: Total small vessel disease (SVD) score and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) score are magnetic resonance imaging-based composite scores built to preferentially capture deep perforator arteriopathy-related and CAA-related SVD burden, respectively. Non-lobar intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is related to deep perforator arteriopathy, while lobar ICH can be associated with deep perforator arteriopathy or CAA; however, the associations between ICH location and these scores are not established.

Methods: In this post-hoc analysis from a prospective cohort study, we included 153 spontaneous non-cerebellar ICH patients.

MRI and CT imaging biomarkers of cerebral amyloid angiopathy in lobar intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), a common cause of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), is diagnosed using the Boston criteria including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarkers (cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) and cortical superficial siderosis (cSS). The simplified Edinburgh criteria include computed tomography (CT) biomarkers (subarachnoid extension (SAE) and finger-like projections (FLPs)). The underlying mechanisms and diagnostic accuracy of CT compared to MRI biomarkers of CAA are unknown.

Oral Anticoagulants in the Oldest Old with Recent Stroke and Atrial Fibrillation.

Objective: To investigate the safety and effectiveness of direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) versus vitamin K antagonists (VKA) after recent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) aged ≥85 years.

Methods: Individual patient data analysis from seven prospective stroke cohorts. We compared DOAC versus VKA treatment among patients with AF and recent stroke (<3 months) aged ≥85 versus <85 years.

Longitudinal structural and perfusion MRI enhanced by machine learning outperforms standalone modalities and radiological expertise in high-grade glioma surveillance.

Purpose: Surveillance of patients with high-grade glioma (HGG) and identification of disease progression remain a major challenge in neurooncology. This study aimed to develop a support vector machine (SVM) classifier, employing combined longitudinal structural and perfusion MRI studies, to classify between stable disease, pseudoprogression and progressive disease (3-class problem).

Methods: Study participants were separated into two groups: group I (total cohort: 64 patients) with a single DSC time point and group II (19 patients) with longitudinal DSC time points (2-3).

World Health Organization Grade II/III Glioma Molecular Status: Prediction by MRI Morphologic Features and Apparent Diffusion Coefficient.

Background A readily implemented MRI biomarker for glioma genotyping is currently lacking. Purpose To evaluate clinically available MRI parameters for predicting isocitrate dehydrogenase () status in patients with glioma. Materials and Methods In this retrospective study of patients studied from July 2008 to February 2019, untreated World Health Organization (WHO) grade II/III gliomas were analyzed by three neuroradiologists blinded to tissue results.

Segmentation-Based Blood Flow Parameter Refinement in Cerebrovascular Structures Using 4-D Arterial Spin Labeling MRA.

Objective: Cerebrovascular diseases are one of the main global causes of death and disability in the adult population. The preferred imaging modality for the diagnostic routine is digital subtraction angiography, an invasive modality. Time-resolved three-dimensional arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance angiography (4D ASL MRA) is an alternative non-invasive modality, which captures morphological and blood flow data of the cerebrovascular system, with high spatial and temporal resolution.

Imaging biomarkers of vulnerable carotid plaques for stroke risk prediction and their potential clinical implications.

Stroke represents a massive public health problem. Carotid atherosclerosis plays a fundamental part in the occurence of ischaemic stroke. European and US guidelines for prevention of stroke in patients with carotid plaques are based on quantification of the percentage reduction in luminal diameter due to the atherosclerotic process to select the best therapeutic approach.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease in Men Living with HIV and HIV-Negative Men Aged 50 and Above.

We assessed whether HIV status was associated with white matter hyperintensities (WMH), a neuroimaging correlate of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), in men aged ≥50 years. A cross-sectional substudy was nested within a larger cohort study. Virologically suppressed men living with HIV (MLWH) and demographically matched HIV-negative men aged ≥50 underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 Tesla.

Cardiovascular Risk Factors and White Matter Hyperintensities: Difference in Susceptibility in South Asians Compared With Europeans.

Background Cardiovascular risk factors vary between ethnicities but little is known about their differential effects on white matter hyperintensities ( WMH ), an indicator of brain aging and burden of cerebrovascular disease. Methods and Results Brain magnetic resonance imaging scans from 213 people of South Asian and 256 of European ethnicity (total=469) were analyzed for global and regional WMH load. Associations with cardiovascular risk factors and a composite cardiovascular risk score (National Cholesterol Education Programme Adult Treatment Panel III) were compared by ethnicity, diabetes mellitus, smoking, and hypertension status.

Inference of Cerebrovascular Topology With Geodesic Minimum Spanning Trees.

A vectorial representation of the vascular network that embodies quantitative features-location, direction, scale, and bifurcations-has many potential cardio- and neuro-vascular applications. We present VTrails, an end-to-end approach to extract geodesic vascular minimum spanning trees from angiographic data by solving a connectivity-optimized anisotropic level-set over a voxel-wise tensor field representing the orientation of the underlying vasculature. Evaluating real and synthetic vascular images, we compare VTrails against the state-of-the-art ridge detectors for tubular structures by assessing the connectedness of the vesselness map and inspecting the synthesized tensor field.

Predicting the presence of macrovascular causes in non-traumatic intracerebral haemorrhage: the DIAGRAM prediction score.

Objective: A substantial part of non-traumatic intracerebral haemorrhages (ICH) arises from a macrovascular cause, but there is little guidance on selection of patients for additional diagnostic work-up. We aimed to develop and externally validate a model for predicting the probability of a macrovascular cause in patients with non-traumatic ICH.

Methods: The DIagnostic AngioGRAphy to find vascular Malformations (DIAGRAM) study (n=298; 69 macrovascular cause; 23%) is a prospective, multicentre study assessing yield and accuracy of CT angiography (CTA), MRI/ magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and intra-arterial catheter angiography in diagnosing macrovascular causes in patients with non-traumatic ICH.