Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Brain mapping studies have demonstrated that functional poststroke brain reorganization is associated with recovery of motor function. Nonetheless, the specific mechanisms associated with functional reorganization leading to motor recovery are still partly unknown. In this study, we performed a cross-sectional evaluation of poststroke subjects with the following goals: (1) To assess intra- and interhemispheric functional brain activation patterns associated with motor function in poststroke patients with variable degrees of recovery; (2) to investigate the involvement of other nonmotor functional networks in relationship with recovery. ⋯ Functional recovery after stroke is associated with preserved functional connectivity of motor to nonmotor networks.
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The use of telecommunications technology to provide the healthcare services, telemedicine, has been in use since the 1860s. The use of technology has ranged from providing medical care to far-off places during wartimes to monitoring physiological measurements of astronauts in space. Since the 1990s, reports have been published on diagnoses of neurological diseases with the use of video links. ⋯ A standard protocol can be followed to decide a vascular modality of choice, considering advantages and disadvantages of each imaging modality. Telestroke solves the problems of distance and of shortage of neurologists. Neuroimaging plays a vital role in the delivery of telestroke, and the telestroke doctor should be comfortable with making a decision on selecting an appropriate vascular imaging modality.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Utilization of Emergent Neuroimaging for Thrombolysis-Eligible Stroke Patients.
Advances in diagnostic imaging of stroke include multimodal techniques such as noninvasive angiography and perfusion imaging. We aimed to characterize trends in neuroimaging utilization among acute stroke patients. Utilization of multimodal imaging for acute stroke in the community has remained largely uncharacterized despite its increased adoption at academic medical centers. ⋯ Among acute stroke patients, noncontrast CT was the most common initial imaging strategy in clinical practice in the 2005-2012 time period, though use of concomitant CTA grew to one-quarter of cases, suggestive of an upward trend.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of Intracerebral Hemorrhage Volume Calculation Methods and Their Impact on Scoring Tools.
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) volumes are frequently used for prognostication and inclusion of patients in clinical trials. We sought to compare the original ABC/2 method and sABC/2, a simplified version with the planimetric method. ⋯ Simplified ABC/2 (sABC/2) method performs better than ABC/2 in calculating ICH volumes. Moreover, it is better in differentiating a volume threshold of 30 mL. These findings may have implications for outcomes prediction and clinical trials inclusion.
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Spinal cord atrophy occurs early in the multiple sclerosis (MS) disease course, is closely related to physical disability, and is a putative neuroprotective therapeutic outcome measure. ⋯ In this pilot study of RRMS, GA therapy was not associated with any ongoing spinal cord atrophy or any difference in the one-year rate of spinal cord area change versus healthy controls. These results paralleled the lack of clinical worsening and may reflect a treatment effect of GA. Further studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.