Analysis of magnetic resonance spectroscopy relative metabolite ratios in mild traumatic brain injury and normative controls.

Introduction: We evaluated magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in United States military personnel with persistent symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), comparing over time two groups randomized to receive hyperbaric oxygen or sham chamber sessions and a third group of normative controls.

Methods: Active-duty or veteran military personnel and normative controls underwent MRS outcome measures at baseline, 13 weeks (mTBI group only), and six months. Participants received 3.

Central auditory processing disorders after mild traumatic brain injury.

Auditory processing disorders are common following mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), but the neurocircuitry involved is not well understood. The present study used functional MRI to examine auditory cortex activation patterns during a passive listening task in a normative population and mTBI patients with and without clinical central auditory processing deficits (APD) as defined by the SCAN-3:A clinical battery. Patients with mTBI had overall patterns of lower auditory cortex activation during the listening tasks as compared to normative controls.

Quantitative analysis tool for clinical functional MRI in mild traumatic brain injury.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been available commercially for clinical diagnostic use for many years. However, both clinical interpretation of fMRI by a neuroradiologist and quantitative analysis of fMRI data can require significant personnel resources that exceed reimbursement. In this report, a fully automated computer-based quantification methodology (Enumerated Auditory Response, EAR) has been developed to provide an auditory fMRI assessment of patients who have suffered a mild traumatic brain injury.

Comprehensive Evaluation of Healthy Volunteers Using Multi-Modality Brain Injury Assessments: An Exploratory, Observational Study.

Even though mild traumatic brain injury is common and can result in persistent symptoms, traditional measurement tools can be insensitive in detecting functional deficits after injury. Some newer assessments do not have well-established norms, and little is known about how these measures perform over time or how cross-domain assessments correlate with one another. We conducted an exploratory study to measure the distribution, stability, and correlation of results from assessments used in mild traumatic brain injury in healthy, community-dwelling adults.

Hyperbaric oxygen for post-concussive symptoms in United States military service members: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: In prior military randomized trials, participants with persistent symptoms after mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) reported improvement regardless of receiving hyperbaric oxygen (HBO₂) or sham intervention. This study's objectives were to identify outcomes for future efficacy trials and describe changes by intervention.

Methods: This Phase II, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial enrolled military personnel with mild TBI and persistent post-concussive symptoms.

A prospective trial of hyperbaric oxygen for chronic sequelae after brain injury (HYBOBI).

Objective: Some practitioners advocate hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) for sequelae following brain injury. This study assessed recruitment, tolerance and safety in preparation for a randomized clinical trial.

Design: Prospective, open-label feasibility study.

Assessment of tracer delay effect in whole-brain computed tomography perfusion: results for selected regions of interest in middle cerebral artery acute ischemic strokes.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the variability of computed tomography perfusion (CTP) results in identical data sets of middle cerebral artery (MCA) acute ischemic stroke (AIS) generated by standard singular value decomposition (sSVD) deconvolution and tracer delay-insensitive singular value decomposition (SVD+) algorithm analyses.

Methods: Whole-brain 320-detector-row CTP data sets from 9 unilateral MCA AIS cases and 9 controls were retrospectively analyzed. Computed tomography perfusion values for the combined core/penumbra, contralateral hemispheres and arterial territories were measured and compared with literature values.

Assessment of the tracer delay effect in whole-brain computed tomography perfusion: results in patients without known neuroanatomic abnormalities.

Objective: Whole-brain computed tomography perfusion (CTP) data sets generated by tracer delay-insensitive singular value decomposition plus (SVD+) and standard singular value decomposition (sSVD) deconvolution algorithms were evaluated to quantify relatedness and discrepancies in CTP results.

Methods: Twenty females with symmetrical hemispheric CTP maps indicative of brain tissue without apparent abnormalities were studied. Tissue-specific CTP values were analyzed.

Quantification of the human cerebrovasculature: a 7Tesla and 320-row CT in vivo study.

Objective: Human cerebrovasculature has not been quantified in volume, length, and vascular-brain relationships. We investigated this using imaging.

Methods: From 0.

The role of magnetoencephalography in "nonlesional" epilepsy.

The surgical management of neocortical epilepsy is challenging because many patients are without obvious structural lesions, or lesions are small and easily overlooked during routine clinical interpretation of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data. Even when functional imaging data suggest focal epileptiform pathology, in the absence of a concordant structural lesion, invasive monitoring is often required to confirm that an appropriate surgical target has been identified. This study sought to determine the extent to which knowledge of magnetoencephalography (MEG) data can augment the MRI-based detection of structural brain lesions.

Clinical indications and utilization of 320-detector row CT in 2500 outpatients.

Clinical indications and utilization patterns for 3963 CT scans on 2500 consecutive patents on a 320-detector row CT in an outpatient setting were retrospectively analyzed and compared with previously reported CT studies. The impact of the latest generation CT technology, including whole organ perfusion, on indications and utilization patterns during the study period was also assessed. The top five requested CT scan types were abdomen/pelvis, chest, head, sinuses, and coronary CT angiography.

Appearance and impact of post-operative intracranial clips and coils on whole-brain CT angiography and perfusion.

Background: To evaluate the effect of vascular clips and endovascular coils placed for intracranial aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations on whole-brain computed tomography (CT) angiography and perfusion.

Methods: A 320-detector row dynamic volume CT system imaged 11 patients following surgical placement of vascular clips or endovascular coils. The extent of clip and coil subtraction by automated software was evaluated using CT digital subtraction angiography and CT perfusion.

Developmental venous anomalies: appearance on whole-brain CT digital subtraction angiography and CT perfusion.

Introduction: Developmental venous anomalies (DVA) consist of dilated intramedullary veins that converge into a large collecting vein. The appearance of these anomalies was evaluated on whole-brain computed tomography (CT) digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and CT perfusion (CTP) studies.

Methods: CT data sets of ten anonymized patients were retrospectively analyzed.

Magnetic resonance venography and genetics of a female patient with pelvic venous thrombosis.

A femoral vein thrombosis, originally diagnosed with conventional ultrasound, was fully elucidated and monitored utilizing serial high-resolution magnetic resonance venography in a 19-year-old female with a family history of venous thromboembolism. Genetic testing revealed she was heterozygous for a F5 gene mutation, an abnormality that predisposes carriers to factor V Leiden thrombophilia. An additional risk factor included use of oral contraceptive pills.

Sagittal whole-spine magnetic resonance imaging in 750 consecutive outpatients: accurate determination of the number of lumbar vertebral bodies.

Object: When the number of lumbar and sacral vertebrae is being assessed, variations from typical lumbosacral anatomy may confuse the practitioner, potentially leading to significant clinical errors. In this study, the authors describe the statistical variation in lumbar spine anatomy in an outpatient imaging setting, evaluate the potential implications for clinical practice based on the variation in the number of lumbar-type vertebrae identified, and recommend a method for rapidly determining the number of lumbar spine vertebral bodies (VBs) in outpatients referred for lumbar spine MR imaging.

Methods: A total of 762 patients (male and female) who presented with low back-related medical conditions underwent whole-spine MR imaging in an outpatient setting.

Traumatic brain injury: a review and high-field MRI findings in 100 unarmed combatants using a literature-based checklist approach.

This study reviewed the literature for the extent of neuroimaging findings in boxers, indicative of traumatic brain injury (TBI) as identified in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The study then utilized a systematic checklist approach to assess 100 unselected consecutive 1.5- and 3.

Whole-spine dynamic magnetic resonance study of contortionists: anatomy and pathology.

Object: Whole-spine magnetic resonance (MR) images were obtained using a cylindrical 3-T MR imaging system in 5 contortionists to assess the pathological changes possibly associated with the practice of contortion. Whole-spine dynamic MR images were obtained using a 1-T open MR imaging system in 2 of these contortionists with the purpose of defining the range of motion (ROM) achieved during extreme contortion. The range of spinal motion in this unique population was then quantified.

Objective documentation of traumatic brain injury subsequent to mild head trauma: multimodal brain imaging with MEG, SPECT, and MRI.

Objective: To determine to what extent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and magnetoencephalography (MEG) can provide objective evidence of brain injury in adult patients with persistent (>1 year) postconcussive symptoms following mild blunt head trauma.

Design: A retrospective and blind review of imaging data with respect to the presence of specific somatic, psychiatric, and cognitive complaints.

Setting/participants: Thirty complete data sets (with MRI, SPECT, MEG, and neuropsychological testing results) were collected between 1994 and 2000 from the MEG programs at the Albuquerque VAMC and the University of Utah.

Turf wars in radiology: the quality of imaging facilities operated by nonradiologist physicians and of the images they produce.

There is considerable emphasis currently placed on the need to reduce medical errors and improve patients' safety. Because diagnostic imaging is such an important part of the workup of most medical conditions, one way to help achieve this goal is to insist that imaging facilities and the imaging examinations they produce meet high standards of quality. Published studies have shown that radiology facilities and radiologists consistently generate higher quality images than most other medical specialties.

Use of a sterile, disposable, radiation-absorbing shield reduces occupational exposure to scatter radiation during pectoral device implantation.

The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness of a radiation-absorbing shield in reducing physicians' occupational radiation exposure during pectoral device implantation. A sterile, disposable, lead-free radiation-absorbing surgical drape containing x-ray attenuation material was evaluated. Twenty procedures used the radiation absorbing drape, and 20 were performed without the shielding.