Cytokine filtration modulates pulmonary metabolism and edema formation during ex vivo lung perfusion.

Background: Ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) has improved the process of donor lung management. Cytokine accumulation during EVLP has been shown to correlate with worse outcome after lung transplantation. Our objective in this study was to test the safety and efficacy of cytokine filtration during EVLP in a large animal model.

Local resectability assessment of head and neck cancer: Positron emission tomography/MRI versus positron emission tomography/CT.

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of positron emission tomography (PET)/MRI with PET/CT for local resectability of head and neck cancer.

Methods: Sequential contrast-enhanced PET/CT-MRI was performed in 58 patients referred for the staging or restaging of head and neck cancer. Tumors were assessed with PET/CT and PET/MRI for the presence of resectability-defining factors: T4b status (mediastinal invasion, invasion of the prevertebral space, and vascular encasement), and another 8 findings that would imply obstacles for surgical cure (invasion of the laryngeal cartilage, invasion of the preepiglottic fat pad, perineural spread, orbital invasion, bone infiltration, skull base invasion, dural infiltration, and invasion of the brachial plexus).

Different mechanosensory stimulations of the lower back elicit specific changes in hemodynamics and oxygenation in cortical sensorimotor areas-A fNIRS study.

Background And Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the feasibility of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure changes in cerebral hemodynamics and oxygenation evoked by painful and nonpainful mechanosensory stimulation on the lower back. The main objectives were to investigate whether cortical activity can be (1) detected using functional fNIRS, and (2) if it is possible to distinguish between painful and nonpainful pressure as well as a tactile brushing stimulus based on relative changes in oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin ([OHb] and [HHb]).

Methods: Twenty right-handed subjects (33.

PET/MR Outperforms PET/CT in Suspected Occult Tumors.

Background: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of PET/MR and PET/CT in patients with suspected occult primary tumors.

Methods: This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board. Sequential PET/CT-MR was performed in 43 patients (22 male subjects; median age, 58 years; range, 20-86 years) referred for suspected occult primary tumors.

Long Term Clinical Prognostic Factors in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Insights from a 10-Year Observational Study.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) has a highly heterogenic course making prediction of long term outcome very difficult.

Objective: The objective was to evaluate current and identify additional clinical factors that are linked to long term outcome of relapsing-remitting MS assessed by disability status 10 years after disease onset.

Methods: This observational study included 793 patients with relapsing-remitting MS.

Fine tuning breath-hold-based cerebrovascular reactivity analysis models.

Introduction: We elaborate on existing analysis methods for breath-hold (BH)-derived cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) measurements and describe novel insights and models toward more exact CVR interpretation.

Methods: Five blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI datasets of neurovascular patients with unilateral hemispheric hemodynamic impairment were used to test various BH CVR analysis methods. Temporal lag (phase), percent BOLD signal change (CVR), and explained variance (coherence) maps were calculated using three different sine models and two novel "Optimal Signal" model-free methods based on the unaffected hemisphere and the sagittal sinus fMRI signal time series, respectively.

Cerebellar contributions to self-motion perception: evidence from patients with congenital cerebellar agenesis.

The cerebellum was historically considered a brain region dedicated to motor control, but it has become clear that it also contributes to sensory processing, particularly when sensory discrimination is required. Prior work, for example, has demonstrated a cerebellar contribution to sensory discrimination in the visual and auditory systems. The cerebellum also receives extensive inputs from the motion and gravity sensors in the vestibular labyrinth, but its role in the perception of head motion and orientation has received little attention.

4D flow MRI assessment of extracranial-intracranial bypass: qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the hemodynamics.

Introduction: Our aim was to assess the feasibility of using time-resolved 3D phase-contrast (4D flow) MRI to characterize extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass.

Methods: We enrolled 32 patients who underwent EC-IC bypass (15 men, 17 women; mean age 66.4 years).

TNM Staging of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Comparison of PET/MR and PET/CT.

Unlabelled: The purpose of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of whole-body unenhanced PET/MR with that of PET/CT in determining the stage of non-small cell lung cancer.

Methods: This study was approved by the institutional review board and by national government authorities. Forty-two consecutive patients referred for the initial staging of non-small cell lung cancer underwent whole-body imaging with a sequential trimodality PET/CT/MR system.

PET/MR in cancers of the head and neck.

One early application of PET/MRI in clinical practice may be the imaging of head and neck cancers. This is because the morphologic imaging modalities, CT and MR, are recognized as similarly effective tools in cross-sectional oncological imaging of the head and neck. The addition of PET with FDG is believed to enhance the accuracy of both modalities to a similar degree.