Publications by authors named "Tarek Zoubi"

Contrast-enhanced CT is the standard imaging technique in oncological objectives. Rates of missed pathologies depend on work experience of the respective radiologists. Thus the aim of this study is to analyze the eye movements of professionals while reading CT images in order to evaluate whether the eye-fixation patterns and search strategies of experienced radiologists could explain higher detection rates of pathologies and whether such patterns can be learned.

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Purpose:  Higher rates of missed pathologies, caused by a lack of professional experience or systematic search, suggest that a methodical approach to radiological analysis can be learned. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the efficiency of different principles of screening stroke CTs for cerebrovascular diseases between radiologists and neuroradiologists with different levels of experience in relation to professional experience.

Methods:  A set of anonymous CT images of 20 patients, with a suspected stroke, was individually presented to 12 radiologists with different levels of professional experience.

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Introduction: Intended subtotal resection of large vestibular schwannomas (T4a and b according to the Hannover classification system) has been shown to be safe and, in combination with stereotactic radiosurgery, might enable sufficient tumor control. However, risk factors for postoperative neurological deterioration in these surgically challenging lesions are largely unknown.

Methods: Pre- and postoperative symptoms, clinical and radiological data of patients who underwent intended subtotal resection for vestibular schwannoma in our department between 2010 and 2014 were reviewed.

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Background And Purpose: The introduction of stent retrievers allows for a complete extraction and histological analysis of human thrombi. Ischemic stroke is a major health issue, and differentiation of underlying causes is highly relevant to prevent recurrent stroke. Therefore, histopathologic analysis of the embolic clots after removal may provide valuable information about underlying pathologies.

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Background And Purpose: Significant early hematoma growth in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage is an independent predictor of poor functional outcome. Recently, the novel blend sign (BS) has been introduced as a new imaging sign for predicting hematoma growth in noncontrast computed tomography. Another parameter predicting increasing hematoma size is the well-established spot sign (SS) visible in computed tomographic angiography.

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Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a devastating neurological disease observed nearly exclusively in immunocompromised patients. Recently, the introduction of monoclonal antibodies significantly inhibiting the immune system such as rituximab has led to an increase in PML cases. Although rituximab-based immunochemotherapy remains the standard of treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the importance of Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as ibrutinib is steadily increasing.

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Introduction: Early prediction of potential neurological recovery in patients after cardiac arrest is challenging. Recent studies suggest that the densitrometic gray-white matter ratio (GWR) determined from cranial computed tomography (CT) scans may be a reliable predictor of poor outcome. We evaluated an automated, rater independent method to determine GWR in CT as an early objective imaging predictor of clinical outcome.

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Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an autoimmune inflammatory arthritis causing ossifications and rigidity of the spinal column. Patients with AS have a high incidence of spinal fractures, especially in the cervical spine, with a high rate of epidural hematomas. These have hazardous consequences, including neurological sequelae, and high morbidity and mortality.

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Background And Purpose: Computed tomography perfusion (CTP) has a high diagnostic value in the detection of acute ischemic stroke in the anterior circulation. However, the diagnostic value in suspected posterior circulation (PC) stroke is uncertain, and whole brain volume perfusion is not yet in widespread use. We therefore studied the additional value of whole brain volume perfusion to non-contrast CT (NCCT) and CT angiography source images (CTA-SI) for infarct detection in patients with suspected acute ischemic PC stroke.

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Background: Approximately 20% of grade II and most grade III gliomas fluoresce after 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) application. Conversely, approximately 30% of nonenhancing gliomas are actually high grade.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify preoperative factors (ie, age, enhancement, 18F-fluoroethyl tyrosine positron emission tomography [F-FET PET] uptake ratios) for predicting fluorescence in gliomas without typical glioblastomas imaging features and to determine whether fluorescence will allow prediction of tumor grade or molecular characteristics.

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Background Context: Cases of cerebral hypotension and tonsillar herniation after accidental lumbar cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage or chest tube drainage with intrathoracic CSF leaks have been reported. To the authors' knowledge, this case presents the first report of severe intracranial hypotension because of suction of CSF by a Vacuum-Assisted Closure (VAC) device.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report a life-threatening intracranial hypotension in a polytraumatized patient after VAC therapy.

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