Confirmation of Age-dependence in the Leakage of Contrast Medium around the Cortical Veins into Cerebrospinal Fluid after Intravenous Administration of Gadolinium-based Contrast Agent

Purpose:It has been reported previously that intravenously administered gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) leaks into the subarachnoid space around the cortical veins at 4 h after injection in all old people over 37 years, but not in younger people up to 37 years of age in 3D-real IR images. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was a strict threshold of 37 years of age for the leakage of the GBCA into the subarachnoid space.Methods:The subjects included 190 patients, that were scanned for 3D-real IR images at 4 hours after intravenous injection of GBCA as a diagnostic test for endolymphatic hydrops. The patient’s age ranged from 14 to 81 years. Two experienced neuroradiologists evaluated the images to determine whether the GBCA leakage around the cortical veins was positive or negative. Any discrepancies between the two observers were discussed and a consensus was obtained.A Mann–Whitney U test and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were used to compare the positive and the negative group and to set the age cut-off value for the prediction of GBCA leakage.Results:The GBCA leakage around the cortical veins was negative in 35 patients and positive in 155 patients. The average age was 33 ± 11 years in the negative group, and 55 ± 12 years in the positive group (P < 0.01). In the ROC analysis for the age and leakage of the GBCA, an area under the curve was 0.905 and the cut-off age was 37.317 years (sensitivity of 0.942 and specificity of 0.771).Conclusion:Intravenously administered GBCA leaks into the subarachnoid space around the cortical veins in most patients over 37 years of age. However, it should be noted that it can be found occasionally in patients under 37 years of age.     

Endovascular deep brain stimulation: Investigating the relationship between vascular structures and deep brain stimulation targets

BackgroundEndovascular delivery of current using ‘stentrodes’ – electrode bearing stents – constitutes a potential alternative to conventional deep brain stimulation (DBS). The precise neuroanatomical relationships between DBS targets and the vascular system, however, are poorly characterized to date.ObjectiveTo establish the relationships between cerebrovascular system and DBS targets and investigate the feasibility of endovascular stimulation as an alternative to DBS.MethodsNeuroanatomical targets as employed during deep brain stimulation (anterior limb of the internal capsule, dentatorubrothalamic tract, fornix, globus pallidus pars interna, medial forebrain bundle, nucleus accumbens, pedunculopontine nucleus, subcallosal cingulate cortex, subthalamic nucleus, and ventral intermediate nucleus) were superimposed onto probabilistic vascular atlases obtained from 42 healthy individuals. Euclidian distances between targets and associated vessels were measured. To determine the electrical currents necessary to encapsulate the predefined neurosurgical targets and identify potentially side-effect inducing substrates, a preliminary volume of tissue activated (VTA) analysis was performed.ResultsSix out of ten DBS targets were deemed suitable for endovascular stimulation: medial forebrain bundle (vascular site: P1 segment of posterior cerebral artery), nucleus accumbens (vascular site: A1 segment of anterior cerebral artery), dentatorubrothalamic tract (vascular site: s2 segment of superior cerebellar artery), fornix (vascular site: internal cerebral vein), pedunculopontine nucleus (vascular site: lateral mesencephalic vein), and subcallosal cingulate cortex (vascular site: A2 segment of anterior cerebral artery). While VTAs effectively encapsulated mfb and NA at current thresholds of 3.5 V and 4.5 V respectively, incremental amplitude increases were required to effectively cover fornix, PPN and SCC target (mean voltage: 8.2 ± 4.8 V, range: 3.0–17.0 V). The side-effect profile associated with endovascular stimulation seems to be comparable to conventional lead implantation. Tailoring of targets towards vascular sites, however, may allow to reduce adverse effects, while maintaining the efficacy of neural entrainment within the target tissue.ConclusionsWhile several challenges remain at present, endovascular stimulation of select DBS targets seems feasible offering novel and exciting opportunities in the neuromodulation armamentarium.     

Current status and challenges of Additive manufacturing in orthopaedics: An overview

Additive manufacturing is a rapidly emerging technology which is being successfully implemented in the various field of medicine as well as in orthopaedics, where it has applications in reducing cartilage defects and treatments of bones. The technology helps through systematic collection of information about the shape of the "defects" and precise fabrication of complex 3D constructs such as cartilage, heart valve, trachea, myocardial bone tissue and blood vessels. In this paper, a large number of the relevant research papers on the additive manufacturing and its application in medical specifically orthopaedics are identified through Scopus had been studied using Bibliometric analysis and application analysis is undertaken. The bibliometric analysis shows that there is an increasing trend in the research reports on additive manufacturing applications in the field of orthopaedics. Discussions are on using technological advancement like scanning techniques and various challenges of the orthopaedic being met by additive manufacturing technology. For patient-specific orthopaedic applications, these techniques incorporate clinical practice and use for effective planning. 3D printed models printed by this technology are accepted for orthopaedic surgery such as revision of lumbar discectomy, pelvic surgery and large scapular osteochondroma. The applications of additive manufacturing in orthopaedics will experience a rapid translation in future. An orthopaedic surgeon can convert need/idea into a reality by using computer-aided design (CAD) software, analysis software to facilitate the manufacturing. Thus, AM provides a comprehensive opportunity to manufacture orthopaedic implantable medical devices.     

胃食管反流病与功能磁共振技术

随着对胃食管反流病研究的深入,大脑和食管感觉及胃排空的相互作用越来越受到重视,功能磁共振成像技术,有助于进一步了解胃食管反流病的发病机制。     

1 H-MRS对低级别和高级别脑胶质瘤鉴别诊断的作用及病理级别相关性的研究

目的 分析脑胶质瘤的氢质子磁共振波谱（proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy，^1H—MRS）表现及其临床意义；探讨脑胶质瘤的^1H—MRS特点与其病理级别相关性。资料与方法 搜集经临床手术、病理证实的脑胶质瘤36例，按照WHO诊断标准分成两组：低级别脑胶质瘤组、高级别脑胶质瘤组。所有患者在术前行^1H—MRS检查。均在MR非增强成像的基础上获得。使用Siemens Sonata 1．5T超导磁共振扫描仪，多体素扫描，点分辨表面线圈法，检测不同区域代谢物变化。结果 脑胶质瘤的^1H—MRS表现：肌酸（Cr）轻度下降，N-乙酰天门冬氨酸（NAA）显著下降。胆碱（Cho）显著增高。低级别、高级别脑胶质瘤的肿瘤组织分别和对侧正常脑组织的NAA／Cr、Cho／Cr、NAA／Cho比值存在非常显著性差异（P〈0．01）；低级别脑胶质瘤和高级别脑胶质瘤的肿瘤组织的NAA／Cr、Cho／Cr、NAA／Cho比值存在显著性差异（P〈0．05）。脑胶质瘤的NAA／Cho、Cho／Cr、NAA／Cr比值与病理级别相关，其中NAA／Cho和Cho／cr比值反映肿瘤级别较稳定；NAA／Cr、NAA／Cho比值存在负相关关系（相关系数rs分别为-0．663，-0．851），Cho／Cr比值存在正相关关系（相关系数rs为0．858）。结论 ^1H—MRS与MRI相结合能提高脑胶质瘤术前诊断的准确性。^1H-MRS可评价脑胶质瘤的分级，反映脑胶质瘤代谢特性以及肿瘤生长潜能。