Multiple hypointense vessels on susceptibility-weighted imaging in acute ischemic stroke: surrogate marker of oxygen extraction fraction in penumbra?

Background: Multiple hypointense vessels (MHV) on susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) are frequently observed in patients with acute cerebral ischemia, but their implication has not been clearly established. To elucidate the clinical significance of MHV on SWI, we investigated the association of MHV on SWI with clinical data and other MR markers in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Methods: We enrolled acute stroke patients with internal carotid or proximal middle cerebral artery occlusion who underwent MRI including SWI within 3 days from stroke onset.

Spontaneous isolated posterior inferior cerebellar artery dissection: rare but underdiagnosed cause of ischemic stroke.

Background: Spontaneous isolated posterior inferior cerebellar artery dissection (PICAD) is a very rare cause of ischemic stroke. Clinical and radiologic features of ischemic type of isolated spontaneous PICAD are not well established.

Methods: We consecutively enrolled patients who had spontaneous isolated PICAD confirmed by digital subtraction cerebral angiography.

Change in cortical vessel signs on susceptibility-weighted images after full recanalization in hyperacute ischemic stroke.

Background: The cortical vessel signs (CVSs) on susceptibility-weighted images (SWIs) have been reported in patients with hyperacute ischemic stroke. We evaluated the change of this susceptibility sign on the immediate SWI after full recanalization and its clinical implications.

Methods: Nineteen hyperacute ischemic stroke patients who had acute large artery occlusion and underwent post-recanalization SWI were enrolled in this study.

Widespread cerebral cortical mineralization in Wilson's disease detected by susceptibility-weighted imaging.

Signal abnormalities of cortical gray matter, compared with the deep nuclear structures, have received less attention in Wilson's disease (WD). They nearly always accompanied white matter signal change, and commonly are associated with epilepsy and psychiatric features. We report herein two cases diagnosed as WD who, in addition to characteristic deep nuclear lesions on MR imaging, had widespread cerebral cortical paramagnetic signals dramatically detected by susceptibility-weighted imaging.

Familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with V180I mutation.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is an uncommon neurodegenerative disorder with an incidence of 1 per 1000,000 per year typically characterized by rapidly progressive dementia, ataxia, myoclonus and behavioral changes. Genetic prion diseases, which develop due to a mutations in the prion protein gene (PRNP), account for an estimated 10 to 15% of all CJD cases. We report a 75-yr-old woman with familial CJD carrying a V180I mutation which features late onset, slow progression, no periodic sharp wave complexes on electroencephalography, and extensive cortical ribboning with spared the cerebellum and the medial occipital lobes posterior to the parieto-occipital sulcus on MRI.