Congenital anomalies of lumbosacral spine: A pictorial review

Congenital malformations of the lumbosacral spine include spinal dysraphism and caudal anomalies. Most often, these malformations are discovered prenatally or in early infancy, but some are not diagnosed until late childhood or adulthood. The purpose of this pictorial review is to illustrate the multi‐modality imaging characteristics in these complex anomalies and to provide a systematic radiological approach aiming at improving diagnostic accuracy.     

Synthesis of novel 2-alkyl-4-substituted-amino-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines as new leads for anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity

Treatment of 6-alkyl-1-phenyl-4-chloro-(1H)-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines, with different amines afforded a series of compounds whose identity and purity were confirmed by spectral and analytical means. The compounds were tested for antibacterial activity against four organisms viz. Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive), S. epidermidis (Gram positive), Bacillus subtilis (Gram positive), Escherichia coli (Gram negative) using amoxicillin as standard control. Compounds 4d, 6b, 6c have shown best antibacterial activity in the series. The antiproliferative activity was tested against human skin cancer cell line G361. The compounds 3d, 4d, 5b, 5d, 5e, 6c, 7a were found to be the best of the series and showed the activity at micromolar concentration.     

Brachium Pontis Stroke Revealing Neurofibromatosis Type‐2

NF2 is an autosomal dominant disorder with neuroectodermal dysplasia. Most patients present with characteristic clinical tumors during or beyond the adolescent age group. The diagnosis is mainly clinical. Vasculopathy is rarely associated with NF2. Vascular complication as the presenting symptom in NF‐2 is unknown. We report a case of a 2‐year‐old child with no prior family history of neurofibromatosis presenting with ataxia and brain‐stem stroke .     

Vasogenic edema characterizes pediatric acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

Introduction

MR imaging criteria for diagnosing acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) have not been clearly established. Due to the wide spectrum of differential considerations, new imaging features allowing early and accurate diagnosis for ADEM are needed. We hypothesized that ADEM lesions would be characterized by vasogenic edema due to the potential reversibility of the disease.

Methods

Sixteen patients who met the diagnostic criteria for ADEM proposed by the International Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Study Group (IPMSSG) and had complete MR imaging studies performed at our institution during the acute phase of the disease were identified retrospectively and evaluated by experienced pediatric neuroradiologists.

Results

Vasogenic edema was demonstrated on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and corresponding apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps in 12 out of 16 patients; cytotoxic edema was identified in two patients while the other two patients displayed no changes on DWI/ADC. ADC values for lesions and normal-appearing brain tissue were 1.39?±?0.45?×?10^?3 and 0.81?±?0.09?×?10^?3 mm/s², respectively (p?=?0.002). When considering a cutoff of 5 days between acute and subacute disease, no difference between ADC values in acute vs. subacute phase was depicted. However, we found a significant correlation and an inverse and significant relationship between time and ADC value.

Conclusion

We propose that vasogenic edema is a reliable diagnostic sign of acute neuroinflammation in ADEM.     

Reversible Cytotoxic Edema in TPN‐Related Hepatic Encephalopathy

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is an uncommon complication of total parenteral nutrition (TPN). Cytotoxic edema has not been reported in children with TPN‐related HE. We describe a case of TPN‐related HE presenting with diffuse cytotoxic edema which reversed after liver transplantation.