正常中脑导水管脑脊液流动磁共振定量研究

目的 :运用磁共振相位对比电影法非侵袭性测量中脑导水管脑脊液流动方向、流速及流量改变情况。方法 :测量 15例正常志愿者 (年龄 2 1～ 4 7岁 ,平均 31 4岁 )中脑导水管脑脊液流动情况 ,在正中矢状位T1WI图像上选择垂直于导水管层面 ,编码速率 2 0cm/s。测量相应层面导水管截面积 ,计算相应导水管区脑脊液流量 ,并研究在一个心动周期内CSF流动改变情况。结果 :正常中脑导水管脑脊液流动在一个心动周期内表现为双向流动 ,即收缩期向下流动和舒张期向上流动 ,收缩期平均向下峰流速和舒张期平均向上峰流速分别为 12 6 7± 3 5 8mm/s和 11 5 8± 3 96mm/s,平均向下及向上流量分别为 1 311± 0 74 0ml/min(0 0 18± 0 0 12ml/心动周期 )和 1 0 6 8± 0 5 6 8ml/min(0 0 14± 0 0 0 9ml/心动周期 ) ,平均净流量为 0 2 6 0± 0 2 4 9ml/min(0 0 0 4± 0 0 0 4ml/心动周期 ) ;脑脊液向下流动平均最大峰速发生在一个心动周期的R波后平均 18%时间点 (心动周期的 5 7ms,平均心动周期 85 7ms) ,向上最大峰流速出现在心动周期的 87%时间点 (心动周期的6 86ms,平均心动周期 85 7ms) ,而逆向流动发生在R波后平均 4 4 %～ 5 8%时间点 (心动周期的 343～ 4 5 7ms,平均心动周期85 7ms)。结论 :磁共振相位对比     

Functional differences among those high and low on a trait measure of psychopathy.

BACKGROUND: It has been established that individuals who score high on measures of psychopathy demonstrate difficulty when performing tasks requiring the interpretation of other's emotional states. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relation of emotion and cognition to individual differences on a standard psychopathy personality inventory (PPI) among a nonpsychiatric population. METHODS: Twenty participants completed the PPI. Following survey completion, a mean split of their scores on the emotional-interpersonal factor was performed, and participants were placed into a high or low group. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected while participants performed a recognition task that required attention be given to either the affect or identity of target stimuli. RESULTS: No significant behavioral differences were found. In response to the affect recognition task, significant differences between high- and low-scoring subjects were observed in several subregions of the frontal cortex, as well as the amygdala. No significant differences were found between the groups in response to the identity recognition condition. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that participants scoring high on the PPI, although not behaviorally distinct, demonstrate a significantly different pattern of neural activity (as measured by blood oxygen level-dependent contrast)in response to tasks that require affective processing. The results suggest a unique neural signature associated with personality differences in a nonpsychiatric population.     

Intercostal hemangioma

This paper presents a case of intercostal hemangioma, in which a complete surgical resection was accomplished based upon a tentative diagnosis provided by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A 27-year-old man visited our hospital for the evaluation of chest pain and shortness of breath after exertion. Computed tomography showed a soft tissue mass, 5.5×3.5 cm in size, arising from the right lateral 7th intercostal space. Dynamic MRI showed that the mass was enhanced rapidly in the early phase and that this early enhancement was maintained during the delayed phase, which was compatible with a diagnosis of intercostal hemangioma. The patient underwent surgery, and a complete resection of the tumor with the right 7th and 8th ribs and their intercostal muscles was accomplished. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of intramuscular hemangioma of the large-vessel type. Presently, 6 months after the operation, the patient is doing well, without any evidence of local recurrence.     

Off-resonance effects in the transient response of SSFP sequences.

A previously developed eigenvector formalism is adapted to off-resonance in the transient response of quasiperiodic steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequences, including TrueFISP as a special case. The effective relaxation rates for essentially parallel and perpendicular deviations from the steady state are determined analytically in leading order perturbation theory. The latter are a known cause of oscillatory artifacts and therefore constitute the main target of a variety of preparation techniques. In addition, the former also play a dominating role in applications such as inversion recovery (IR) TrueFISP, which intentionally measure far away from the equilibrium. For both components, the approach toward equilibrium turns out to depend sensitively on field inhomogeneities, especially for smaller ratios of T2/T1. For the perpendicular deviations, the calculations show that--except very close to banding artifacts, where the steady-state signal is almost zero--field inhomogeneities additionally increase their effective relaxation rate almost as much as in the free induction decay (FID). The analytical results are tested against numerical simulation and MR measurements.     

Removing the effect of SVD algorithmic artifacts present in quantitative MR perfusion studies.

Quantitative cerebral blood flow (CBF) values can be obtained from dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MR perfusion studies using the standard singular value decomposition (sSVD) deconvolution algorithm. Reports in the literature from simulation and in vivo studies suggest that CBF estimates obtained using sSVD deconvolution depend on the arterial-tissue delay (ATD). By contrast, Fourier transform (FT) deconvolution produces CBF estimates that are independent of ATD. The diagnostic reliability of quantitative CBF measurements to define areas of normal tissue flow and tissue at risk is brought into doubt by such gross sensitivity to the specifics of the deconvolution approach. This variation of CBF values with ATD is shown to be an artifact associated with the current implementation of the sSVD deconvolution algorithm. A reformulated version of the SVD deconvolution algorithm (rSVD) is presented and compared to the standard SVD algorithm through simulation and patient case studies.     

View ordering for magnetization prepared steady state free precession acquisition: application in contrast-enhanced MR angiography.

Magnetization prepared segmented acquisition requires a view order that maximizes signal contrast during the acquisition of the central portion of k-space. Steady state free precession (SSFP) acquisition further requires a view order that minimizes changes in phase-encoding gradients from one repetition to the next in order to minimize eddy current artifacts. In this article, optimal view ordering schemes satisfying these two requirements are formulated and applied to inversion prepared 3D SSFP contrast-enhanced MR angiography (MRA). Experiments on phantoms and pigs demonstrated improved background suppression and reduced image artifacts.     

正常成人脑外段视神经的MRI研究

目的 评价正常成人视神经-眼平面(NOP)视交叉以外段颅神经的MRI表现,建立正常标准。方法 随机选择正常成人志愿者50例,采用GB1.5T MR/i echo spood plus超导型磁共振成像仪及相控阵头线圈,成像序列包括自旋回波T1加权成像(SET1WI)和自旋回波T2加权成像(SET2WI);扫描方位以NOP平面为基准扫描。分别测量两组视神经眼球后神经膨大段直径、眶内段视神经直径、长度,管内段视神经直径及该段视神经起始至同侧视交叉的长度,后者与眶内段视神经长度之和即代表颅外段视神经的长度。结果 NOP平面上,正常人眼球后神经膨大段直径为4.2±0.56mm,眶内段直径为3.1±0.45mm、长度为24.6±2.88mm,管内段视神经直径为3.2±0.49mm,至同侧视交叉的长度为18.7±2.40mm,颅外段视神经的长度为43.3±3.83mm。统计分析,正常成人组内性别和年龄、双侧视神经之间无显著差异。 结论 NOP平面评价视神经有很大优势,MRI可以很好显示视神经的形态,是研究其解剖和疾病的有效检查手段。     

先天性胆脂瘤的MRI诊断

目的：探讨MRI对先天性胆脂瘤的诊断价值。方珐：回顾性分析7例经手术病理证实的先天性胆脂瘤的MRI表现，7例均为脑外型，其中6例胆脂瘤位于桥小脑角区，l例胆脂瘤位于脊髓内．结果：先天性胆脂瘤的绝大多数MRI表现为T1WI呈低信号,T2WI呈高信号，信号欠均匀，且病灶具有“见缝就钻”的特点。增强扫描，病灶无强化，但如合并感染可有轻度强化。结论：MRI的表现及特殊序列FLAIR、SPIR像的相互补充应用对先天性胆脂瘤的诊断及鉴别诊断具有重要意义。     

Pituitary volume in pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Abnormalities in the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (LHPA) axis have been implicated in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). To our knowledge, however, no prior study has measured pituitary gland volume in OCD. METHODS: Volumetric magnetic resonance imaging studies were conducted in 31 psychotropic drug-na?ve children (10 boys, 21 girls) aged 8-17 years and 31 case-matched healthy comparison subjects. RESULTS: Pituitary volume was significantly smaller in patients with OCD as compared with healthy control subjects (11% smaller). Smaller pituitary volume in patients with OCD was associated with increased compulsive but not obsessive symptom severity. Boys with OCD had smaller pituitary gland volumes compared with control boys (20% smaller). No significant differences in pituitary volume were observed between girls with OCD and control girls. Boys with OCD had significantly smaller pituitary volumes than girls with OCD (31% smaller), whereas control boys also had smaller pituitary gland volumes compared with control girls (21% smaller). CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide new evidence of reduced pituitary volume in pediatric OCD that seems to be more prominent in male patients. The observed alterations in pituitary volume are consistent with neuroendocrine studies that have reported abnormalities in the LHPA axis in OCD.     

Steady state of gradient echo sequences with radiofrequency phase cycling: Analytical solution,contrast enhancement with partial spoiling

Spoiled gradient echo sequences can only reach a homogeneous steady state if sufficiently strong crusher gradients are used in combination with RF phase cycling (RF spoiling). However, the signal depends quite sensitively on the chosen phase increment ? and—lacking analytical solutions—numerical simulations must be used to study the transient and steady‐state magnetization. For the steady state an exact analytical solution is derived, which holds for arbitrary sequence and tissue parameters. Besides a considerably improved computation performance, the analytical approach enables a better understanding of the complicated dependence on ?. For short repetition times (TR) the regime of small ? turns out to be particularly interesting: It is shown that the typical ?_c, where RF spoiling starts to become effective, is essentially inversely proportional to T₂. This tissue dependence implies that contrasts can be considerably larger with partial spoiling (? ≈ ?_c) than with conventional RF spoiling (? ? ?_c). As an example, the uptake of contrast agents in tissues is investigated. For typical parameters a considerably improved contrast enhancement can be obtained, both theoretically and experimentally. Magn Reson Med, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.