Neuroimaging clinics of North America
-
Vasculitis is a complication of several infectious diseases affecting the central nervous system, which may result in ischemic and/or hemorrhagic stroke, transient ischemic attack, and aneurysm formation. Infectious agents may directly infect the endothelium causing vasculitis or indirectly affect the vessel wall through an immunological cascade. ⋯ Neuroimaging enables the identification of inflammatory changes in intracranial vasculitis. In this article, we review the imaging features of infectious vasculitis of bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic causes.
-
Neuroimaging Clin. N. Am. · Feb 2024
ReviewUsefulness of Different Imaging Methods in the Diagnosis of Cerebral Vasculopathy.
Assessment of cerebral vasculopathies is challenging and requires understanding the utility of different imaging methods. Various techniques are available to image the vessel lumen, each with unique advantages and disadvantages. ⋯ Digital subtraction angiography remains the gold standard but is invasive, while VW-MRI provides a non-invasive way of assessing vessel wall pathology. Conventional brain MRI has high sensitivity in the diagnosis of vasculitis but findings are nonspecific.
-
Vasculitis is characterized by the inflammation of blood vessels. Vasculitides refers to the different forms of vasculitis, often classified according to the size of the blood vessel that is involved. Vasculitis may occur as a primary process or secondary to many systemic diseases. This topic provides an overview of the clinical features, diagnosis, and classification of the different forms of vasculitides.
-
Neuroimaging Clin. N. Am. · Feb 2024
ReviewTreatment of Primary Angiitis of the Central Nervous System.
Primary central nervous system vasculitis (PCNSV) is a vasculitis limited to the brain and spinal cord. Induction therapy often consists of steroids and cyclophosphamide. ⋯ Medications such as rituximab and mycophenolate mofetil may be good alternatives in those who do not respond to initial treatment or who have relapse of disease. Mortality rates of 8% to 9% are reported in the literature.
-
Stroke is a complication of many central nervous system (CNS) infections, but only a few present with stroke without other symptoms or signs of CNS infection. Chief among these are varicella zoster virus (VZV) and syphilis. Delayed cerebral vasculopathy after successful treatment of bacterial meningitis, most commonly pneumococcal, is an emerging entity with uncertain pathogenesis.