Predictors of Penetration-Aspiration in Parkinson's Disease Patients With Dysphagia: A Retrospective Analysis.

Objective: Penetration-aspiration is considered the most severe sign of dysphagia, with aspiration pneumonia as one of its consequences. More than half of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients suffer from dysphagia, and aspiration pneumonia is among the primary causes of mortality in PD patients. However, the identification of predictors of penetration-aspiration in PD patients remains an understudied topic.

Ultrasonographic, CTI and MRI of Aberrant Internal Carotid Artery: Infrequent but Important to Know.

This article describes the aberrant course of the internal carotid artery (ICA) through the middle ear as an extremely rare vascular anomaly. On the basis of a case report, the findings of magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography imaging, and especially color-coded duplex sonography are presented. The diagnosis of an aberrant ICA is important to avoid severe surgical complications of a retrotympanic mass as well as unnecessary diagnostic or therapeutic approaches in expectation of a stroke.

Alternate ventricular asymmetry could suggest a psychiatric diagnosis.

Routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the skull and brain for diagnostic purposes sometimes reveals a wider tip of the frontal ventricular horn on one side and a wider tip of the temporal horn on the other. A search for 'alternate ventricular asymmetry' in Google Scholar, Medline and PubMed Central yielded no results, so the digital archive of the hospital was searched for such cases. A total of 5908 examinations were reviewed and 508 cases were found, comprising 6% of the neurological inpatients and 20% of the psychiatric inpatients (P = 0.

Endovascular stroke therapy with the Aperio thrombectomy device.

Background: The pharmaceutical therapy for acute ischemic stroke has shortcomings in reopening large vessels and dissolving long thrombi, and endovascular treatment has been found to provide added value. The Aperio thrombectomy device showed promising results in an experimental study. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the device clinically.

Impact of collateral circulation on early outcome and risk of hemorrhagic complications after systemic thrombolysis.

Background: In stroke patients, collateral flow can rapidly be assessed on computed tomography angiography (CTA).

Aims: In this study, the impact of baseline collaterals on early outcome and risk of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhages after systemic thrombolysis in patients with proximal arterial occlusions within the anterior circulation were analyzed.

Methods: Collateralization scores were determined on the CT angiography source images (0 = absent; 1 ≤ 50%, 2 > 50% but <100%, and 3 = 100% collateral filling) of patients with distal intracranial carotid artery and/or M1 segment occlusions treated from 2008 to December 2011.

Acute stroke: a comparison of different CT perfusion algorithms and validation of ischaemic lesions by follow-up imaging.

Objectives: To compare ischaemic lesions predicted by different CT perfusion (CTP) post-processing techniques and validate CTP lesions compared with final lesion size in stroke patients.

Methods: Fifty patients underwent CT, CTP and CT angiography. Quantitative values and colour maps were calculated using least mean square deconvolution (LMSD), maximum slope (MS) and conventional singular value decomposition deconvolution (SVDD) algorithms.

CT perfusion in acute ischemic stroke: a comparison of 2-second and 1-second temporal resolution.

Background And Purpose: CT perfusion data sets are commonly acquired using a temporal resolution of 1 image per second. To limit radiation dose and allow for increased spatial coverage, the reduction of temporal resolution is a possible strategy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of reduced temporal resolution in CT perfusion scans with regard to color map quality, quantitative perfusion parameters, ischemic lesion extent, and clinical decision-making when using DC and MS algorithms.

Hemorrhagic complications after systemic thrombolysis in acute stroke patients with abnormal baseline coagulation.

Background And Purpose: As patients with abnormal baseline coagulation were excluded from the large randomized trials, the safety of intravenous thrombolysis after ischaemic stroke in this patient population remains controversial.

Methods: We assessed the risk of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH) after systemic thrombolysis in patients with elevated baseline international normalized ratios (INRs) (≥1.3) or activated partial thromboplastin times (aPTT) (>37 s) using a prospectively recorded database from 2006 to 2010.

Perfusion CT in acute ischemic stroke: a qualitative and quantitative comparison of deconvolution and maximum slope approach.

Background And Purpose: PCT postprocessing commonly uses either the MS or a variant of the DC approach for modeling of voxel-based time-attenuation curves. There is an ongoing discussion about the respective merits and limitations of both methods, frequently on the basis of theoretic reasoning or simulated data. We performed a qualitative and quantitative comparison of DC and MS by using identical source datasets and preprocessing parameters.

Surgical treatment of space occupying edema and hemorrhage due to cerebral venous thrombosis during pregnancy.

Background: During late pregnancy and the puerperium cerebral venous and sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a rare but important cause of stroke. Despite adequate anticoagulation some patients deteriorate, which may warrant the use of more aggressive treatment modalities.

Case Report: A 29-year-old pregnant woman (29th week of pregnancy) presented with diffuse headaches and a progressive left hemiparesis.

The association between California Verbal Learning Test performance and fibre impairment in multiple sclerosis: evidence from diffusion tensor imaging.

The California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) is recognized as a standard clinical tool for assessing episodic memory difficulties in multiple sclerosis (MS), but its neural correlates have not yet been examined in detail in this patient population. We combined neuropsychological examination and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) analysis in a group of MS patients (N = 50) and demographically matched healthy participants (N = 20). We investigated the degree of impairment of the uncinate fascicle (UF), the superior longitudinal fascicle (SLF), the fornix (FX) and the cingulum (CG).

Bone-subtraction CT angiography: evaluation of two different fully automated image-registration procedures for interscan motion compensation.

Background And Purpose: Bone-subtraction techniques have been shown to enhance CT angiography (CTA) interpretation, but motion can lead to incomplete bone removal. The aim of this study was to evaluate 2 novel registration techniques to compensate for patient motion.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-four patients underwent bone-subtraction CTA (BSCTA) for the evaluation of the neck vessels with 64-section CT.

Hyperresponsiveness of platelets in ischemic stroke.

Platelet activation and aggregation are critical in the pathogenesis of acute ischemic cerebrovascular diseases. The aim of our study was to characterize platelet function in patients with acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), and to evaluate the effect of platelet activation on clinical outcome. One hundred thirty-eight consecutive patients with TIA (n = 74) or stroke (n = 64) were enrolled in this study.

New techniques in CT angiography.

Computed tomographic (CT) angiography has been improved significantly with the introduction of four- to 64-section spiral CT scanners, which offer rapid acquisition of isotropic data sets. A variety of techniques have been proposed for postprocessing of the resulting images. The most widely used techniques are multiplanar reformation (MPR), thin-slab maximum intensity projection, and volume rendering.

Course of platelet activation and platelet-leukocyte interaction in cerebrovascular ischemia.

Background And Purpose: Platelet activation plays a crucial role in the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of platelet activation and leukocyte-platelet interactions to the disease.

Methods: One hundred thirty-five patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or stroke were enrolled in this single-center study.

Identifying the affected hemisphere by (1)H-MR spectroscopy in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and no pathological findings in high resolution MRI.

Up to 30% of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) remain without remarkable changes in MRI. In this study we investigated the role of (1)H-MR spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS) in lateralizing the affected hemisphere in the mentioned patient group. Twenty-two consecutive patients diagnosed with TLE were investigated by high resolution MRI and (1)H-MRS.

Preoperative grading of gliomas by using metabolite quantification with high-spatial-resolution proton MR spectroscopic imaging.

Purpose: To evaluate proton magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopic imaging with high spatial resolution for preoperative grading of suspected World Health Organization grades II and III gliomas.

Materials And Methods: Institutional ethics committee approval and informed consent were obtained for control subjects but were not required for the retrospective component involving patients. Twenty-six patients (10 women, 16 men; mean age, 37.

Bone-subtraction CT angiography for the evaluation of intracranial aneurysms.

Purpose: CT angiography (CTA) has been established for detection and therapy planning of intracranial aneurysms. The analysis of aneurysms at the level of the skull base, however, remains difficult because bone prevents a free view. We report initial clinical results of an approach for automatic bone elimination from CTA data.

Kyphosis reduction and the rate of cement leaks after vertebroplasty of intravertebral clefts.

To assess the results of vertebroplasty in patients with intravertebral clefts compared to patients with normal osteoporotic fractures, we evaluated the pre- and postoperative images and pain scores (VAS) of 114 patients with 192 vertebroplasty procedures treated between March 2002 and February 2005. Intravertebral clefts were identified on conventional radiographs, MR or CT images as gas- or fluid-filled spaces adjacent to an endplate of a fractured vertebra. Forty-four vertebrae showed intravertebral clefts.

Clinical evaluation of bone-subtraction CT angiography (BSCTA) in head and neck imaging.

Fifty-one patients were examined with bone subtraction CT angiography (BSCTA). Data were acquired on 4-and 64-slice spiral CT systems. The post-processing method is based on fully automatic registration of non-enhanced and contrast-enhanced CT data and subsequent selective bone removal.