Plasma neurofilament light admission levels and development of axonal pathology in mild traumatic brain injury.

Background: It is known that blood levels of neurofilament light (NF-L) and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) are both associated with outcome of patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Here, we sought to examine the association between admission levels of plasma NF-L and white matter (WM) integrity in post-acute stage DW-MRI in patients with mTBI.

Methods: Ninety-three patients with mTBI (GCS ≥ 13), blood sample for NF-L within 24 h of admission, and DW-MRI ≥ 90 days post-injury (median = 229) were included.

Association of cognitive-linguistic deficits to diffusion tensor imaging parameters in moderate to severe traumatic diffuse axonal injury.

Cognitive-linguistic functions are an essential part of adequate communication competence. Cognitive-linguistic deficits are common after traumatic diffuse axonal injury (DAI). We aimed to examine the integrity of perisylvian white matter tracts known to be associated with linguistic functions in individuals with DAI and their eventual association with poor cognitive-linguistic outcomes.

A comparison of diffusion tensor imaging tractography and constrained spherical deconvolution with automatic segmentation in traumatic brain injury.

Detection of microstructural white matter injury in traumatic brain injury (TBI) requires specialised imaging methods, of which diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been extensively studied. Newer fibre alignment estimation methods, such as constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD), are better than DTI in resolving crossing fibres that are ubiquitous in the brain and may improve the ability to detect microstructural injuries. Furthermore, automatic tract segmentation has the potential to improve tractography reliability and accelerate workflow compared to the manual segmentation commonly used.

Structural Brain Connectivity Correlates with Outcome in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

We investigated the topology of structural brain connectivity networks and its association with outcome after mild traumatic brain injury, a major cause of permanent disability. Eighty-five patients with mild traumatic brain injury underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) twice, about three weeks and eight months after injury, and 30 age-matched orthopedic trauma control subjects were scanned. Outcome was assessed with Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale on average eight months after injury.

Cognitive-Linguistic outcome in moderate to severe diffuse axonal injury and association with fatigue.

Purpose: Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) often have persistent cognitive-linguistic deficits that negatively influence their life. Our objective was to examine the cognitive-linguistic outcome in individuals with moderate to severe diffuse axonal injury (DAI) with a novel test battery. As fatigue is a common symptom affecting the lives of individuals with DAI, we also wanted to assess whether the self-reported fatigue was associated with cognitive-linguistic abilities.

Alterations in Microstructure and Local Fiber Orientation of White Matter Are Associated with Outcome after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can have long-lasting consequences. We investigated white matter (WM) alterations at 6-12 months following mTBI using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and assessed if the alterations associate with outcome. Eighty-five patients with mTBI underwent diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on average 8 months post-injury and patients' outcome was assessed at the time of imaging using the Glasgow Outcome Scale-Extended (GOS-E).

A patient with Korsakoff syndrome of psychiatric and alcoholic etiology presenting as DSM-5 mild neurocognitive disorder.

Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) and Korsakoff syndrome (KS) are underdiagnosed. The DSM-5 has raised the diagnostic threshold by including KS in the major neurocognitive disorders, which requires that the patient needs help in everyday activities. We report clinical, neuropsychological, and radiological findings from a patient who developed Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome as a result of alcohol use and weight loss due to major depression.

Diffusion parameters of the core of cingulum are associated with age-related ventricular enlargement: a diffusion tensor tractography study.

Purpose: To evaluate the influence of the size of lateral ventricles on diffusion parameters of the normal cingulate bundle.

Methods: Eighty normal subjects (17-55 years) underwent MRI at 3 T including diffusion tensor imaging. Superior (SC) and inferior (IC) cingulum were analyzed separately.

Korsakoff Syndrome in Non-alcoholic Psychiatric Patients. Variable Cognitive Presentation and Impaired Frontotemporal Connectivity.

Non-alcoholic Wernicke's encephalopathy and Korsakoff syndrome are greatly underdiagnosed. There are very few reported cases of neuropsychologically documented non-alcoholic Korsakoff syndrome, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data are scarce. We report clinical characteristics and neuropsychological as well as radiological findings from three psychiatric patients (one woman and two men) with a history of probable undiagnosed non-alcoholic Wernicke's encephalopathy and subsequent chronic memory problems.

High angular resolution diffusion-weighted imaging in mild traumatic brain injury.

We sought to investigate white matter abnormalities in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI). We applied a global approach based on tract-based spatial statistics skeleton as well as constrained spherical deconvolution tractography. DW-MRI was performed on 102 patients with mTBI within two months post-injury and 30 control subjects.

Non-alcoholic Korsakoff syndrome in psychiatric patients with a history of undiagnosed Wernicke's encephalopathy.

Wernicke's encephalopathy is often undiagnosed, particularly in non-alcoholics. There are very few reports of non-alcoholic patients diagnosed with Korsakoff syndrome in the absence of a prior diagnosis of Wernicke's encephalopathy and no studies of diffusion tensor imaging in non-alcoholic Korsakoff syndrome. We report on three non-alcoholic psychiatric patients (all women) with long-term non-progressive memory impairment that developed after malnutrition accompanied by at least one of the three Wernicke's encephalopathy manifestations: ocular abnormalities, ataxia or unsteadiness, and an altered mental state or mild memory impairment.

Diffusion tensor tractography-based analysis of the cingulum: clinical utility and findings in traumatic brain injury with chronic sequels.

Introduction: To evaluate the clinical utility of quantitative diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) and tractography-based core analysis (TBCA) of the cingulum by defining the reproducibility, normal values, and findings in traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Methods: Eighty patients with TBI and normal routine MRI and 78 controls underwent MRI at 3T. To determine reproducibility, 12 subjects were scanned twice.

Interpretation of magnetic resonance imaging in the chronic phase of traumatic brain injury: what is missed in the original reports?

Primary Objective: To find eventual differences in detecting the late stage TBI findings in MRI between two neuroradiologists and to compare the results with the original reports.

Methods And Procedure: Two neuroradiologists with different levels of experience (R1 and R2) reviewed 89 cranial 1.5 T MRI examinations of patients with clinically evident TBI.

Diffusion tensor tractography of the uncinate fasciculus: pitfalls in quantitative analysis due to traumatic volume changes.

Purpose: To demonstrate the sensitivity of quantitative diffusion tensor tractography to traumatic injury of the uncinate fasciculus (UF), and to evaluate the effect of volume changes on the accuracy of quantitative analysis.

Materials And Methods: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was performed at 3 T for 110 patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 60 control subjects. Volume, mean diffusivity (MD), and mean fractional anisotropy (FA) of the UF were measured by means of tractography.

Quantitative diffusion-tensor tractography of long association tracts in patients with traumatic brain injury without associated findings at routine MR imaging.

Purpose: To evaluate whether quantitative diffusion-tensor tractography can show abnormalities in long association tracts of subjects with symptoms after traumatic brain injury without any visible signs of intracranial or intraparenchymal abnormalities of obvious traumatic origin at routine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and to determine the number and type of these abnormalities.

Materials And Methods: The study was approved by the local ethics committee, and informed consent was obtained from all subjects. Diffusion-tensor tractography was performed at 3.

Lower brain diffusivity in postpartum period compared to late pregnancy: results from a prospective imaging study of multiple sclerosis patients.

Introduction: A positive correlation has been observed between multiple sclerosis (MS) disease activity status and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the brain. Moreover, the relapse frequency of MS has been reported to decrease during pregnancy and increase postpartum. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether ADC histograms correlate with MS activity during pregnancy and postpartum, with a leading hypothesis that the ADC would increase postpartum compared to pregnancy.

Reliability of diagnosis of traumatic brain injury by computed tomography in the acute phase.

The purpose of our study was to determine the accuracy and reliability of the computed tomographic (CT) diagnosis of acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to evaluate the inter-observer variation of CT reports of acute TBI between two experienced neuroradiologists and a neuroradiologist in training. One hundred cranial CT examinations of suspected TBI were chosen randomly from those taken during 1 year at a university central hospital, with institutional ethics committee approval. Two neuroradiologists and one neuroradiologist in training read the scans independently and were blinded to the clinical data.

Association of injury severity, MRI-results and ApoE genotype with 1-year outcome in mainly mild TBI: a preliminary study.

Primary Objective: To study the ability of MRI findings, apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype, the Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) and duration of post-traumatic amnesia (PTA) to predict the 1-year outcome in traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Research Design: A prospective study in unselected emergency room patients with an acute TBI, followed for 1 year.

Methods And Procedures: Thirty-three consecutive patients were studied.

Neurological symptoms and natural course of xeroderma pigmentosum.

We have prospectively followed 16 Finnish xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) patients for up to 23 years. Seven patients were assigned by complementation analysis to the group XP-A, two patients to the XP-C group and one patient to the XP-G group. Six of the seven XP-A patients had the identical mutation (Arg228Ter) and the seventh patient had a different mutation (G283A).

MRI changes and ApoE genotype, a prospective 1-year follow-up of traumatic brain injury: a pilot study.

Primary Objective: To examine the association between apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype and visibility of traumatic brain lesions during the first year after traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Research Design: A prospective 1-year follow-up study in unselected victims of TBI.

Methods: The number and extent of contusions, ventricular size index and semi-quantitative score of other traumatic intraparenchymal lesions were determined with MRI approximately 1 week and 1 year after TBI and the results were analysed in relation to the ApoE genotype in 33 patients after acute non-trivial TBI.

MR imaging of head trauma: visibility of contusions and other intraparenchymal injuries in early and late stage.

The aim of this study was to investigate the visibility of traumatic brain lesions on conventional magnetic resonance images (MRI) in early and late phase. Thirty-six patients were studied 1 week and 1 year after a traumatic brain injury. A similar MRI technique was used in both studies; T2-weighted fast or turbo spin echo images, fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images and T1-weighted images were used for analysis.

MRI findings and Axis I and II psychiatric disorders after traumatic brain injury: a 30-year retrospective follow-up study.

We studied the association between psychiatric disorders and the presence and location of traumatic lesions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 58 patients, on average, 30 years after traumatic brain injury. Axis I psychiatric disorders that had begun after the injury were assessed with the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (version 2.1), and Axis II disorders with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Personality Disorders.

Alexithymia after traumatic brain injury: its relation to magnetic resonance imaging findings and psychiatric disorders.

Objective: People with traumatic brain injury (TBI) were studied to assess the prevalence of alexithymia and its relationship to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and psychiatric disorders.

Methods: Fifty-four participants, 67% men, were evaluated after a median of 30 years since TBI. A control group was matched for age, gender, and severity of depression.

Successful pregnancy of a patient with Balo's concentric sclerosis.

Balo's concentric sclerosis is a severe demyelinating disease with poor prognosis. To date, nothing is known about the effects of pregnancy on the course of Balo's disease. We describe here the first successful pregnancy of a patient with Balo's concentric sclerosis.

Cognitive functions in relation to MRI findings 30 years after traumatic brain injury.

Objective: The aim of the study was to relate cognitive effects of a remote traumatic brain injury (TBI) to MRI findings and severity of injury.

Method: Sixty-one patients were assessed on average 30 years after a TBI of variable severity. A comprehensive cognitive test battery was used to evaluate memory, executive functions and cognitive overall impairment.