Videocapillaroscopic pattern of alopecia areata before and after diphenylciclopropenone treatment.

Alopecia areata (AA) is an inflammatory skin disease the most effective therapy for which is diphenylcyclopropenone (DPCP). Videodermatoscopy and intra-vital capillaroscopy (IVCP) are two non-invasive techniques that help in the differential diagnosis of alopecias. It is known that, after DPCP therapy, there is a histologically proven significant increase of VEGF in hair follicle keratinocytes and a consequent increase in capillary vessels in the dermis of the same follicles.

MR-compatible treadmill for exercise stress cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

This article describes an MR-safe treadmill that enables cardiovascular exercise stress testing adjacent to the MRI system, facilitating cardiac MR imaging immediately following exercise stress. The treadmill was constructed of nonferromagnetic components utilizing a hydraulic power system. Computer control ensured precise execution of the standard Bruce treadmill protocol commonly used for cardiovascular exercise stress testing.

In vitro activity and in vivo efficacy of tigecycline alone and in combination with daptomycin and rifampin against Gram-positive cocci isolated from surgical wound infection.

The aim of this work was to determine the in vitro activity of tigecycline and its bactericidal effect for a large number of Gram-positive cocci, as well as to investigate its in vitro interaction with six clinically used antibiotics. In vivo, a wound model was established through the panniculus carnosus of BALB/c mice, and then inoculated with 5 × 10(7) colony-forming units (CFU) of Staphylococcus aureus or Enterococcus faecalis. For each bacterial strain, the study included an infected or non-infected group that did not receive any treatment, three groups singly treated with tigecycline, rifampin, and daptomycin, and two groups that received tigecycline treatment plus rifampin or daptomycin.

Assessment of carotid stenosis using three-dimensional T2-weighted dark blood imaging: Initial experience.

Purpose: To evaluate the use of a T2-weighted SPACE sequence (T2w-SPACE) to assess carotid stenosis via several methods and compare its performance with contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (ceMRA).

Materials And Methods: Fifteen patients with carotid atherosclerosis underwent dark blood (DB)-MRI using a 3D turbo spin echo with variable flip angles sequence (T2w-SPACE) and ceMRA. Images were coregistered and evaluated by two observers.

Shared velocity encoding: a method to improve the temporal resolution of phase-contrast velocity measurements.

Phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) is used routinely to measure fluid and tissue velocity with a variety of clinical applications. Phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging methods require acquisition of additional data to enable phase difference reconstruction, making real-time imaging problematic. Shared Velocity Encoding (SVE), a method devised to improve the effective temporal resolution of phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging, was implemented in a real-time pulse sequence with segmented echo planar readout.

Tigecycline accelerates staphylococcal-infected burn wound healing through matrix metalloproteinase-9 modulation.

Objectives: We investigated the in vivo efficacy of tigecycline, a new glycylcycline (a tetracycline derivative), in the management of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-infected experimental surgical wounds in rats. The main outcome measures were quantitative bacterial culture, histological examination and immunohistochemical expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and collagen IV.

Methods: An animal model was used to compare the in vivo efficacy of teicoplanin and tigecycline in the treatment of burn wound infections by S.

Improved detection of myocardial involvement in acute inflammatory cardiomyopathies using T2 mapping.

Background: T2-weighted cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is useful in diagnosing acute inflammatory myocardial diseases, such as myocarditis and tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy (TTCM). We hypothesized that quantitative T2 mapping could better delineate myocardial involvement in these disorders versus T2-weighted imaging.

Methods And Results: Thirty patients with suspected myocarditis or TTCM, referred for cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, who met established diagnostic criteria underwent myocardial T2 mapping.

Motion compensated magnetic resonance reconstruction using inverse-consistent deformable registration: application to real-time cine imaging.

Patient motion is a major limitation for magnetic resonance imaging. Recent theoretical advances incorporate explicit rigid and non-rigid motion compensation into conventional image reconstruction for multi-shot acquisitions and recover motion-free images by solving a general matrix inversion problem. Although the theory has been established, applications are rare due to the challenges of estimating motion field for every pixel of every shot.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance of cardiomyopathy in limb girdle muscular dystrophy 2B and 2I.

Background: Limb girdle muscular dystrophies (LGMD) are inclusive of 7 autosomal dominant and 14 autosomal recessive disorders featuring progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. Studies of cardiac function have not yet been well-defined in deficiencies of dysferlin (LGMD2B) and fukutin related protein (LGMD2I). In this study of patients with these two forms of limb girdle muscular dystrophy, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) was used to more specifically define markers of cardiomyopathy including systolic dysfunction, myocardial fibrosis, and diastolic dysfunction.

Noncontrast MRA for the diagnosis of vascular diseases.

The association between gadolinium-based contrast agents and neprogenic systemic fibrosis has helped propel noncontrast angiography techniques to center stage in the MR evaluation of vascular disease, especially in individuals with intrinsic renal diseases. Although balanced steady-state free precession, phase contrast, and time-of-flight sequences are currently being revisited and improved, new noncontrast angiographic methods have been created and are under development: ECG-gated 3D partial-Fourier fast spin echo (FSE) and 3D variable flip angle FSE (SPACE). All of these are attempts to develop noncontrast methods that offer equal or superior vascular diagnosis as compared with contrast-enhanced MR angiography.

Correlation between lipoprotein(a) and lipid peroxidation in psoriasis: role of the enzyme paraoxonase-1.

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease associated with abnormal plasma lipid metabolism and with a high frequency of cardiovascular events. Modifications of plasma lipids and an increase in the levels of biochemical markers of lipid peroxidation have been reported in subjects with psoriasis, suggesting a relationship between psoriasis, lipoproteins and oxidative damage.

Objectives: To investigate further the relationship between lipoproteins and oxidative stress in psoriasis.

Reciprocal altered expression of E-cadherin and P-cadherin in mucous membrane pemphigoid.

E- and P- cadherins are involved in the selective adhesion of epidermal cells. To gain insight into the role of cadherins on the acantholysis of keratinocytes and further investigate the pathogenesis of Mucous Membrane Pemphigoid, we examined the expression of P-cadherin and E-cadherin, in normal human oral mucosa, lesional and peri-lesional mucosa in MMP. Twenty-nine samples from paraffin-embedded specimens of MMP were used for the study.

D2-40 immunoreactivity in penile squamous cell carcinoma: a marker of aggressiveness.

D2-40 immunohistochemical expression was investigated in tissue specimens from 39 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the penis who underwent partial or total penectomy between 1987 and 2008. Patient age, tumor size, and grade; D2-40-positive lymphatic vessel density in intratumoral, peritumoral, and normal tissue; cell positivity for D2-40 in intratumoral and normal tissue; and D2-40 staining intensity and distribution were analyzed and correlated with disease-specific survival. Analysis of D2-40-positive lymphatics disclosed that mean lymphatic vessel density was greater in peritumoral tissue than in intratumoral and normal tissue and lower in patients with lymph node metastasis than in those without lymph node metastasis.

Direct T2 quantification of myocardial edema in acute ischemic injury.

Objectives: To evaluate the utility of rapid, quantitative T2 mapping compared with conventional T2-weighted imaging in patients presenting with various forms of acute myocardial infarction.

Background: T2-weighted cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) identifies myocardial edema before the onset of irreversible ischemic injury and has shown value in risk-stratifying patients with chest pain. Clinical acceptance of T2-weighted CMR has, however, been limited by well-known technical problems associated with existing techniques.

Post-interventional three-dimensional dark blood MRI in the adult with congenital heart disease.

Background: Investigate a novel three-dimensional (3D) turbo spin echo (TSE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequence to assess stented segments in adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) after transcatheter intervention.

Methods: Adults with CHD referred for computed tomography (CT) after transcatheter intervention underwent MR exam with a 3D respiratory gated TSE sequence. Data obtained at the time of the study included type of CHD, radiation dose, length of time between exams, and luminal diameters of stented segments from each exam.

Effectiveness of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy with a single treatment of RLP068/Cl in an experimental model of Staphylococcus aureus wound infection.

Background: Chronic leg ulceration is a common health problem. It is well known that a clinically relevant bacterial load in chronic cutaneous wounds interferes significantly with the normal process of healing. Staphylococcus aureus is the most important representative of the staphylococcal group which causes clinically relevant infections within immunocompetent patients.

A new approach to autocalibrated dynamic parallel imaging based on the Karhunen-Loeve transform: KL-TSENSE and KL-TGRAPPA.

TSENSE and TGRAPPA are autocalibrated parallel imaging techniques that can improve the temporal resolution and/or spatial resolution in dynamic magnetic resonance imaging applications. In its original form, TSENSE uses temporal low-pass filtering of the undersampled frames to create the sensitivity map. TGRAPPA uses a sliding-window moving average when finding the autocalibrating signals.

A modified sesamol derivative inhibits progression of atherosclerosis.

Objective: Sesamol, a phenolic component of lignans, has been previously shown to reduce lipopolysaccharide-induced oxidative stress and upregulate phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt/endothelial nitric oxide synthase pathways. In the present study, we synthesized a modified form of sesamol (INV-403) to enhance its properties and assessed its effects on atherosclerosis.

Methods And Results: Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits were fed with high-cholesterol chow for 6 weeks and then randomized to receive high-cholesterol diet either alone or combined with INV-403 (20 mg/kg per day) for 12 weeks.

Detection of macrophages via paramagnetic vesicles incorporating oxidatively tailored cholesterol ester: an approach for atherosclerosis imaging.

Aim: Macrophages play a key role in the initiation, progression and complications of atherosclerosis. In this article we describe the synthesis of biocompatible, paramagnetic, fluorescent phosphatidylserine vesicles containing cholesterol ester with a free carboxylic acid function and its use for targeted imaging of macrophages.

Methods & Results: We synthesized anionic vesicles containing a combination of phosphatidylserine and a novel synthetic oxidized cholesterol ester derivative (cholesterol-9-carboxynonanoate [9-CCN]).

In vitro activity of the lipopeptide PAL-Lys-Lys-NH2, alone and in combination with antifungal agents, against clinical isolates of Candida spp.

Candida albicans is known to be the organism most often associated with serious fungal infection, but other Candida spp. are emerging as clinical pathogens associated with opportunistic infections. Among antimycotic treatments, increasing attention is currently given to anti-infective drugs based upon naturally occurring peptides, such as the short lipopeptide palmitoyl PAL-Lys-Lys-NH2 (PAL).

Magnetic field threshold for accurate electrocardiography in the MRI environment.

Although the electrocardiogram is known to be nondiagnostic within the bore of any high-field magnet due to the magnetohydrodynamic effect, there are an increasing number of applications that require accurate electrocardiogram monitoring of a patient inside the MRI room but outside of the magnet bore. Magnetohydrodynamic effects on the ST segment of the electrocardiogram waveform were investigated in six subjects at magnetic field strengths ranging from 6.4 mT to 652 mT at the aortic midarch, and the electrocardiogram was found to be accurate at magnetic fields below 70 mT.

Real-time cine and myocardial perfusion with treadmill exercise stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance in patients referred for stress SPECT.

Background: To date, stress cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has relied on pharmacologic agents, and therefore lacked the physiologic information available only with exercise stress.

Methods: 43 patients age 25 to 81 years underwent a treadmill stress test incorporating both Tc99m SPECT and CMR. After rest Tc99m SPECT imaging, patients underwent resting cine CMR.

Cardiac magnetic resonance with edema imaging identifies myocardium at risk and predicts worse outcome in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to define the prevalence and significance of myocardial edema in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS).

Background: Most patients with NSTE-ACS undergo angiography, yet not all have obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) requiring revascularization. Identifying patients with myocardium at risk could enhance the effectiveness of an early invasive strategy.