Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Parasitic neuroinfections in humans have etiological agents spanning a broad spectrum from unicellular (protozoan) to multicellular helminthic (metazoan) organisms. Cerebral coenurosis is a rare cestodal helminthic infection caused by Taenia multiceps. The neuroimaging features of this entity were reviewed to discern an imaging phenotype. ⋯ In an appropriate clinical setting, a cystic lesion with clustered eccentric internal nodular foci ought to raise the suspicion of this rare infection. Magnetic resonance spectroscopic signature of succinate and alanine, if present, further strengthens the likelihood of coenurosis. Signal characteristics, wall enhancement, and perilesional edema may vary, possibly determined by the stage in the evolution of the parasite.
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Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices are commonly used in heart failure patients. These devices carry risk for presumably embolic and additionally hemorrhagic stroke. Alterations in blood flow play a key role in stroke pathophysiology, and we aimed to learn more about hemodynamic compromise. In this study, we used transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasound to define hemodynamics of commonly used nonpulsatile MCS devices, as well as pulsatile devices, with special attention to the total artificial heart (TAH). ⋯ TCD can detect characteristic waveforms in patients supported by various MCS devices. These device-specific TCD patterns are recognizable and reproducible.
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Recent trials have shown benefit of thrombectomy in patients selected by penumbral imaging in the late (>6 hours) window. However, the role penumbral imaging is not clear in the early (0-6 hours) window. We sought to evaluate if time to treatment modifies the effect of endovascular reperfusion in stroke patients with evidence of salvageable tissue on CT perfusion (CTP). ⋯ Penumbral imaging-based selection of patients for thrombectomy is effective regardless of onset time and yields similar functional outcomes in early and late window patients.
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The process of myelination starts in utero around 20 weeks of gestation and continues through adulthood. We first set out to characterize the maturation of the tract-specific myelin content in healthy subjects from childhood (7-12 years) into adulthood (18-32 years). Second, we apply the resulting development graph to children with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE), a pediatric epilepsy that was previously characterized by changes in myelin content. ⋯ These results indicate that CAE is associated with widespread neurodevelopmental myelin differences.
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Early white matter (WM) changes and cortical atrophy in Huntington's disease (HD) are often evident before disease onset and extend through the brain during manifest stages. The trajectory of these brain abnormalities in symptomatic stages remains relatively unexplored. The aim of this study is to investigate how the pattern of WM and gray matter (GM) alterations progress over time. ⋯ This study showed broad GM and WM abnormalities in manifest HD patients. Reductions in FA and cortical thinning correlated significantly with the disturbances of motor and cognitive processing that describe HD. Follow-up assessment showed that the CC is compromised in the absence of detectable GM changes or motor decline, suggesting it plays an important role in disease progression.