Dorsal intramedullary spinal epidermoid cysts: Report of two cases and review of literature

Intramedullary epidermoid cysts of the spinal cord are rare tumors, especially those not associated with spinal dysraphism. About 50 cases have been reported in the literature. Of these, only seven cases have had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies. We report two cases of spinal intramedullary epidermoid cysts with MR imaging. Both were not associated with spina bifida. In one patient, the tumor was located at D4 vertebral level; while in the other, within the conus medullaris. The clinical features, MRI characteristics and surgical treatment of intramedullary epidermoid cyst are presented with relevant review of the literature.     

Sonographic evaluation of gallbladder kinetics: in vitro and in vivo comparison of different methods to assess gallbladder emptying.

In an in vitro study, 10 gallbladders of adult pigs and 6 gallbladders of lambs, all removed immediately after slaughtering, were stimulated in a water bath by electric means to induce active contraction. Gallbladder emptying was followed by ultrasonography employing five measurement procedures: (1) gallbladder width, (2) longitudinal planimetry, (3) transverse planimetry, (4) ellipsoid method, and (5) sum of cylinders method. In an in vivo investigation, gallbladder emptying of 30 volunteers (12 healthy subjects, 18 diabetics) was evaluated in the same way after ingestion of a fatty meal. Gallbladder width was found to be unsuitable to estimate the decrease in gallbladder volume due to a nonlinear relation of the parameters. Longitudinal planimetry tended to be less valid than transverse planimetry in assessing gallbladder volume reduction. The most valid estimation of gallbladder volume decreases was obtained by the two three-dimensional procedures. However, in neither in vitro nor in vivo could a significant difference between the sum of cylinders method and the ellipsoid method in determining relative volume reduction be established. We conclude that a three-dimensional measurement procedure should be used for valid assessments of gallbladder motility. However, according to our data there is no advantage in using the time-consuming sum of cylinders method compared to the simple ellipsoid method.     

常见眼眶病变的MRI诊断与鉴别诊断

目的：探讨眼眶病变的MRI诊断与鉴别诊断价值。方法：对29例经临床病理确诊的眼眶病变的病例进行回顾性分析，重点观察该类疾病的MRI表现。结果：眼眶病变29例，包括肿瘤10例。炎症10例，血管性病变3例，眼肌病变6例。其在MRI表现各具有影像学特征，眼眶肿瘤多表现为位于眼眶内、外的局限性软组织肿块，MR T1WI呈等或稍低信号，T2WI呈高或等信号多见；炎性假瘤则表现为眶内局限性软组织肿块或弥漫性异常信号．MR T1WI呈低信号，T2WI呈高信号，常伴有眼肌肥大或眼环增厚，泪腺肿大等。结论：MRI检查能显示眼眶病变的影像学特征，对其诊断及鉴别诊断具有重要价值。     

MRI技术对高原人群颅脑脱髓鞘疾病回顾性研究

目的研究高原地区,脱髓鞘疾病与中老年人疾病等因素的关系。方法对我院所有接受过磁共振头部扫描的病人进行评估,确诊出40位脱髓鞘疾病患者,并对大脑7个部位的脱髓鞘疾病按严重性分4级打分,统计临床数据,最后运用统计学方法分析其相关性。结果在40例患者中,出现在大脑半球、放射冠、半卵圆中心和脑室前后角的脑白质损伤频率最多,分别占总量的50%、67.5%、77.5%和87.5%。脑白质损伤患者的平均年龄为47.1岁,这比世界其他地区都有明显的提前。男性患者将近是女性患者的3倍(29∶11)。年龄、慢性高原红细胞增多症、收缩压、脑梗塞与脑白质损伤正相关(P<0.05)。结论对于高海拔地区,有效控制高原心血管疾病的发生对于减少颅脑脱髓鞘疾病的发生具有重要意义。     

乳腺良恶性肿块的高频彩色多普勒超声分析

目的:探讨彩色多普勒多参数分析对乳腺良、恶性肿块鉴别诊断的价值。材料和方法:应用高频彩色多普勒对96例104个乳腺实质肿块进行扫查,观察肿块的彩色多普勒血流信号及多普勒血流频谱形态,与手术病理结果对照分析。结果:64.4%的良性肿块可检出血流信号,血流信号多为Ⅰ~Ⅱ级,良性肿块中血流频谱以低阻力搏动型及静脉型多见,91.1%的乳腺恶性肿块可检出血流信号,血流信号多为Ⅱ~Ⅲ级,恶性肿块的血流频谱形态较多样化,即同时有多种血流频谱,且以高阻力搏动型和湍流型为多见。结论:高频彩色多普勒超声多参数综合分析有助于临床对乳腺肿块的诊断及鉴别诊断。     

Comparison of 180° and 360° acquisition for myocardial perfusion SPECT with compensation for attenuation, detector response, and scatter: Monte Carlo and mathematical observer results

BACKGROUND: The optimal projection data acquisition strategy for myocardial perfusion (MP) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) remains controversial. METHODS: We compared MP SPECT using 180 degrees and 360 degrees projection data obtained with the same acquisition time, reconstructed either with filtered back projection (FBP) or the iterative ordered-subsets expectation maximization (OS-EM) algorithm with various combinations of attenuation, detector response, and scatter compensation using mathematical observers and a myocardial defect detection task. We used Monte Carlo-simulated projection data from a population of 3-dimensional nurbs-based cardiac-torso (NCAT) phantoms with ranges of variability in patient anatomy, organ uptake, defect location, defect size, and noise level based on clinical data. Projection data from 180 degrees and 360 degrees acquisitions were generated by assuming the same acquisition time. After iterative or FBP reconstruction, standard postprocessing methods were applied. For each acquisition and reconstruction method, we optimized the number of iterations and cut-off frequency of the Butterworth filter using the Channelized Hotelling Observer methodology. The optimum set of parameters was that which gave the maximum area under the curve. RESULTS: For both acquisition protocols, OS-EM with compensations provided better performance than FBP or OS-EM without compensation. For FBP, the optimized 180 degrees acquisition provided a statistically significant increase in AUC as compared with optimized 360 degrees acquisition. For OS-EM, the AUCs for 180 degrees were slightly larger than for 360 degrees acquisitions when comparing images reconstructed with the same compensations. However, the differences were smaller and not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: With optimized reconstruction and filtering parameters, 180 degrees acquisition provided a statistically significant improvement over 360 degrees acquisition for FBP reconstruction. However, for OS-EM the differences were small and not statistically significant.     

Affective neural circuitry during facial emotion processing in pediatric bipolar disorder.

BACKGROUND: Facial emotions are central to human interaction. Identifying pathophysiology in affect processing circuitry that supports the ability to assess facial emotions might facilitate understanding of affect regulation in pediatric bipolar disorder. METHODS: Ten euthymic, unmedicated pediatric bipolar patients and 10 healthy control subjects matched for age, gender, race, socioeconomic status, and IQ were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Angry, happy, and neutral faces were presented in 30-sec blocks, with a 20-sec rest period between blocks. Subjects were asked to press a button when each face appeared, to ensure that attention was maintained on-task. RESULTS: In bipolar patients, in response to both angry and happy faces relative to neutral faces, we observed reduced activation of right rostral ventrolateral prefrontal cortex together with increased activity in right pregenual anterior cingulate, amygdala, and paralimbic cortex. Bipolar patients also showed reduced activation of visual areas in occipital cortex together with greater activation in higher-order visual perceptual areas, including superior temporal sulcus and fusiform gyrus with angry faces and posterior parietal cortex with happy faces. CONCLUSIONS: Findings document a disturbance in affective neurocircuitry in pediatric bipolar disorder. Reduced activation in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex might reflect diminished top-down control that leads to the observed exaggerated activation in amygdala and paralimbic areas. Changes in occipital areas might represent an effort to gate sensory input when affective responses to the faces could not be successfully modulated. Disturbances in affect processing circuitry could contribute to emotional dysregulation and social cognitive difficulties in bipolar youth.     

Further evidence of dopamine transporter dysregulation in ADHD: a controlled PET imaging study using altropane.

BACKGROUND: The dopamine transporter (DAT) is known to be a key regulator of dopamine, and recent studies of genetics, treatment, and imaging have highlighted the role of DAT in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The findings of in vivo neuroimaging of DAT in ADHD have been somewhat discrepant, however. METHOD: Dopamine transporter binding was measured using a highly selective ligand (C-11 altropane) and positron emission tomography (PET). The sample consisted of 47 well-characterized, treatment-na?ve, nonsmoking, non-comorbid adults with and without ADHD. Additionally, control subjects had few symptoms of ADHD. RESULTS: Results showed significantly increased DAT binding in the right caudate in adults with ADHD compared with matched control subjects without this disorder. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm abnormal DAT binding in the striatum of adults with ADHD and provide further support that dysregulation of DAT may be an important component of the pathophysiology of ADHD.     

动脉血质子自旋标记与动态磁敏感对比MRI在急性脑缺血患者中的应用价值

目的对比研究动脉血质子自旋标记（ASL）与动态磁敏感对比（DSC）MRI在急性脑缺血诊断中的应用价值。方法27例发病3d内的急性脑卒中患者，均采用3．0TMR行脉冲式ASL和DSCMR检查。观察2种技术的灌注表现，包括灌注不足、正常灌注、延迟灌注、过度灌注等，采用Mann—Whitney检验做定性分析。在扩散加权成像显示的病变部位及对侧正常半球的镜像区域分别确定3个感兴趣区（ROI），测量信号强度并计算信号强度比（病侧／对照侧），并将结果做配对t检验。结果定性分析显示27例患者中，2l例2种技术检查结果一致（灌注不足14例，正常灌注5例，过度灌注2例）。6例2种技术不一致，其中4例ASL显示灌注不足而DSC显示延迟灌注，2例ASL显示正常灌注而DSC显示延迟灌注，两者间差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。定量分析示，2种技术的病侧与对照侧信号强度比值ASL为0．7l±0．46，DSC为0．73±0．42，两者间差异无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。结论无创性ASL技术在检测灌注异常时与DSCMRI有相似的敏感性；ASL可与常规MR检查相结合，为临床诊断急性缺血性卒中提供有价值的信息。