Publications by authors named "Veronika Purrer"

The aim of this study was to employ artificial intelligence (AI)-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain volumetry to potentially distinguish between idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (CG) by evaluating cortical, subcortical, and ventricular volumes. Additionally, correlations between the measured brain and ventricle volumes and two established semi-quantitative radiologic markers for iNPH were examined. An IRB-approved retrospective analysis was conducted on 123 age- and sex-matched subjects (41 iNPH, 41 AD, and 41 controls), with all of the iNPH patients undergoing routine clinical brain MRI prior to ventriculoperitoneal shunt implantation.

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Background And Objectives: Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) is an emerging technique for the treatment of severe, medication-refractory tremor syndromes. We here report motor and non-motor outcomes 6 and 12 months after unilateral MRgFUS thalamotomy in tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease (tdPD).

Methods: 25 patients with tdPD underwent neuropsychological evaluation including standardized questionnaires of disability, quality of life (QoL), mood, anxiety, apathy, sleep disturbances, and cognition at baseline, 6 and 12 months after MRgFUS.

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Introduction: Transcranial focused ultrasound therapy (tcFUS) offers precise thermal ablation for treating Parkinson's disease and essential tremor. However, the manual fine-tuning of fiber tracking and segmentation required for accurate treatment planning is time-consuming and demands expert knowledge of complex neuroimaging tools. This raises the question of whether a fully automated pipeline is feasible or if manual intervention remains necessary.

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Essential tremor and Parkinson's disease patients may present with various tremor types. Overlapping tremor features can be challenging to diagnosis and misdiagnosis is common. Although underlying neurodegenerative mechanisms are suggested, neuroimaging studies arrived at controversial results and often the different tremor types were not considered.

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Background: Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) of the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus is an incisionless lesional treatment for essential tremor.

Objective: To examine relationships between tremor severity and functional connectivity in patients with essential tremor and to assess long-term changes in the tremor network after sonication of the ventral intermediate nucleus.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with essential tremor (70.

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Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) lesioning of the ventralis intermedius nucleus (VIM) has shown promise in treating drug-refractory essential tremor (ET). It remains unknown whether focal VIM lesions by MRgFUS have broader restorative effects on information flow within the whole-brain network of ET patients. We applied an information-theoretical approach based on intrinsic ignition and the concept of transfer entropy (TE) to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics after VIM-MRgFUS.

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Background: Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound of the ventral intermediate nucleus is a novel incisionless ablative treatment for essential tremor (ET).

Objective: The aim was to study the structural and functional network changes induced by unilateral sonication of the ventral intermediate nucleus in ET.

Methods: Fifteen essential tremor patients (66.

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Introduction: Transcranial high-intensity Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound (tcMRgFUS) is a technique for treatment of severe, medication-refractory Essential Tremor (ET). We summarize 1-year follow-up results focusing on clinical and safety parameters and impacts on quality of life.

Methods: A total of 45 patients with severe, medication-refractory ET were treated with tcMRgFUS thalamotomy.

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Introduction: The ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus (VIM) is an important relay station receiving cerebellar and pallidal fiber tracts. Data on structural visualization of the VIM however is limited and uncertainty prevails to what extent lesional approaches to treat tremor affect the VIM itself or passing tracts. The aim of the study was to analyze the localization of individual lesions with respect to the VIM and the cerebello-thalamic tract (CTT).

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Purpose: Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) systems are increasingly used to non-invasively treat tremor; consensus on imaging follow-up is poor in these patients. This study aims to elucidate how MRgFUS lesions evolve for a radiological readership with regard to clinical outcome.

Methods: MRgFUS-induced lesions and oedema were retrospectively evaluated based on DWI, SWI, T2-weighted and T1-weighted 3-T MRI data acquired 30 min and 3, 30 and 180 days after MRgFUS (n = 9 essential tremor, n = 1 Parkinson's patients).

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Background: Several publications have focused on accompanying non-motor symptoms (NMS) in essential tremor (ET) patients; however, it remains unclear if NMS are an intrinsic part of the disease or secondary phenomena. We present the results of several neuropsychiatric tests and their impact on quality of life (QoL) in community-dwelling patients with ET.

Methods: Participants were recruited via a newspaper article about ET published in the local media and on the internet.

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