Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Several lines of evidence suggest that the normal integration of cerebral communication may be compromised in schizophrenia, with white matter (WM) abnormalities being integral to these functional deficits. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a neuroimaging technique which has increasingly been used to study WM through quantitative indices of its structural and orientational characteristics. Identifying the WM differences early in the course of schizophrenia may assist in prevention, early diagnosis and identification of treatment targets. ⋯ In summary, DTI studies in early schizophrenia suggest that structural dysconnectivity may be already present in recent-onset and drug-naïve patients, as well as in individuals clinically at high risk for developing schizophrenia. Although the pattern of WM differences is not totally consistent frontal, fronto-temporal and fronto-limbic connections, with tracts including the superior longitudinal fasciculus, cingulum bundle, uncinate fasciculus and corpus callosum seem to be affected. These differences may depend on the developmental stage of the subjects, the duration of illness and exposure to antipsychotic medication.
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Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Trevo versus solitaire a head-to-head comparison between two heavy weights of clot retrieval.
Recent reports have indicated that mechanical thrombectomy may have potential to treat acute ischemic stroke. However, few comparative studies of neurothrombectomy devices are reported. This study aims to compare the safety and effectiveness of two retrievable stent systems in acute ischemic stroke patients. ⋯ Our study showed no significant differences between both stentrievers. Moderately high recanalization rates are possible with both, however larger series may depict safety-related variations.
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Although transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is the gold standard for right to left shunt detection, we observed that transcranial Doppler (TCD) was more sensitive and sought an explanation. ⋯ TEEs and TCDs are operator dependent and thus subject to false negatives. The lower yield and interoperator variability in TEE results appear to reflect the lack of performance protocols and engender concern about false negatives in community use. Consensus performance protocols and certification criteria for both modalities should have an impact on accuracy of shunt detection.
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Comparative Study
Evaluating of small intracranial aneurysms by 64-detector CT Angiography: a comparison with 3-dimensional rotation DSA or surgical findings.
The diagnostic performance of 64-detector computed tomographic angiography (CTA) for detection of small intracranial aneurysms (SIAs) was evaluated. ⋯ The diagnostic performance of 64-detector CTA did not improve much compared with 16-detector CTA for detecting SIAs, especially for very small aneurysms. VR-RDSA is still necessary for patients with a history of subarachnoid hemorrhage if the CTA findings are negative.
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Integration of functional connectivity analysis based on resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and structural connectivity analysis based on Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) has shown great potential to improve understanding of the neural networks in the human brain. However, there are sensitivity and specificity-related interpretation issues that must be addressed. ⋯ This fMRI/DWI integration study suggests that functional connectivity analysis might be a more sensitive and robust approach in understanding the connectivity between cortical regions, and can be used to improve DWI-based structural connectivity analysis.