Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) microscopy on a 7.0T system demonstrated the corticomedullary junction (CMJ) to be a high-susceptibility region (HSR) in young normal subjects, suggesting that functional alteration of cortical microcirculation could be assessed with this imaging method. ⋯ CMJ-HSR expands significantly as a function of aging. Since CMJ-HSR represents a functionally distinct area with relatively slow venous flow, the observed expansion is believed to reflect alteration in cerebral microcirculation with increased age, providing another clue for pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.
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Multicenter Study
Preliminary MRI quality assessment and device acceptance guidelines for a multicenter bioclinical study: the GO Glioblastoma Project.
It is a major challenge to guarantee homogeneous acquisition during a prospective multicenter magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study that makes use of different devices. The goal of the multicenter Grand Ouest Glioblastoma Project (GOGP) was to correlate MRI quantitative parameters with biological markers extracted from image-guided biopsies. Therefore, it was essential to ensure spatial coherence of the parameters as well as the signal intensity and homogeneity. ⋯ A fourth test-object was used to assess T1 accuracy. Although geometry-related parameters, signal-to-noise ratio, uniformity, and T1 measurements varied slightly depending on the different devices, they nevertheless remained within the recommendations and expectations of the multicenter project. This kind of quality control procedure should be undertaken as a prerequisite to any multicenter clinical project involving quantitative MRI and comparison of data acquisitions with quantitative biological image-guided biopsies.
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Cervical spine symptoms are a major cause of visits to general or spinal orthopedic surgeons or even primary care physicians. Although in this era the imaging studies can precisely rule out or diagnose pathologies in the spine, all of these studies have limitations. Computerized tomography (CT) scan consists of radiation exposure to the patients and it should be done with caution. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a highly effective imaging tool, but in many countries it is still costly. The goal of our study was to determine whether a simple clinical test can help the clinician to identify the patients who need to be sent for these imaging studies. ⋯ This paper demonstrate that patients with positive Spurling test have probable nerve root pressure and should be sent for further imaging studies. In patients with negative Spurling test, the possibility of nerve root pressure is less likely.