Articles: brain-pathology.
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Very few reports are available on serial changes in human brain after cardiac arrest. The primary objective of this study is to investigate sequential neuroradiological changes in patients remaining in a persistent vegetative state following resuscitation after cardiac arrest. ⋯ The most characteristic findings on high-field MR images were symmetrical lesions in the bilateral basal ganglia, thalami, and/or substantia nigra with specific changes suggestive of minor hemorrhages that were not evident on CT scans. We speculate that these minor hemorrhages result from diapedesis of red blood cells in these regions during the reperfusion period through the endothelium disrupted by ischemia-reperfusion insult.
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The most frequently reported abnormal MRI finding in migraine is the presence of high signal white matter foci (WMF) on long TR images. Recently, WMF have been distinguished in periventricular WMF (PVF), when contiguous to ventricles, and deep WMF (DF), when far from these. DF, but not PVF, appear positively correlated with cerebrovascular risk factors and are called leukoaraiosis. ⋯ No PVF were observed. These findings were independent of the type of migraine and did not correlate with age, sex, disease duration, or frequency of attacks. The presence in a subgroup of migraineurs of leukoaraiosis (DF), for which a vascular genesis has been hypothesized, suggests that migraine could represent, a cerebrovascular risk factor in these patients.
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AJNR Am J Neuroradiol · Sep 1994
Comparative StudyMagnetization transfer: a potential method to determine the age of multiple sclerosis lesions.
To determine whether magnetization transfer contrast can differentiate acute from chronic lesions in multiple sclerosis. ⋯ Current imaging modalities do not differentiate acute multiple sclerosis lesions from chronic ones. Our data on magnetization transfer show a statistically significant difference in magnetization transfer effect values between lesions of less than 1 year's duration and older lesions. The different values may correspond to the histologic changes of multiple sclerosis plaques over time. Magnetization transfer may be a reliable method for determining the age of multiple sclerosis lesions.
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Beneficial effects of calcium antagonists in cerebral ischemia and trauma have been attributed in part to improved cerebral blood flow. Enhancement of cerebral blood flow, however, could aggravate the pathological situation if brain injury is associated with intracerebral hemorrhage. In this study we used high-field magnetic resonance imaging in an animal model of intracerebral hemorrhage to determine noninvasively the effect of the calcium and serotonin antagonist levemopamil [international nonproprietary name for (S)-emopamil] when infused in a dose (6 mg/kg) that is known to increase cerebral blood flow. ⋯ Aggravation of intracerebral hemorrhage was not observed by magnetic resonance imaging in levemopamil-infused animals. However, infusion of heparin caused a significant (P < .05), almost twofold increase in the size of intracerebral hemorrhage. These results justify clinical trials with levemopamil in cerebral disorders such as stroke, brain trauma, and peritumoral brain edema, which may be accompanied by intracerebral hemorrhage from the beginning or where transition to intracerebral hemorrhage may occur.
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Pediatric neurology · Feb 1994
Cerebrovascular lesions in infants and children dying after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
The neuropathologic autopsy findings of a group of infants and children at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh who died after treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) were reviewed and tabulated. The study surveyed an 11-year period (February, 1980 to May, 1991); of 268 children receiving ECMO therapy for severe cardiopulmonary failure, 94 patients died, 70 of whom were autopsied and permission for brain examination was granted in only 44. ⋯ The frequency of ischemic and hemorrhagic brain lesions was similar among neonates and older infants and children. This documentation of cerebrovascular lesions in children dying after ECMO may provide a better understanding of potential brain damage in the larger population of infants and children who survive this invasive procedure.