基于DTI评价急性缺血性脑卒中运动功能缺损程度与肾虚髓亏证的相关性研究＊

目的 运用核磁共振弥散张量成像技术（DTI），从皮质脊髓束损伤程度评价的角度，探讨肾虚髓亏证与急性缺血性脑卒中运动功能缺损程度相关性，丰富中风病病机及证候诊断，拓宽缺血性脑卒中的中医药防治思路，为急性缺血性脑卒中肾虚髓亏证患者运动功能损伤程度提供临床依据，强调肾虚髓亏证在急性缺血性脑卒中运动功能损伤中的重要意义。方法 纳入符合诊断标准的90例病例，根据证候分别归入肾虚髓亏组和非肾虚髓亏组，每组各45例。每组患者均给予常规西药治疗。对两组患者入院后行弥散张量成像检测，同时分别于治疗前及治疗后14天，记录两组患者NIHSS评分、改良Barthel指数量表及简化Fugl-Meyer运动功能评分量表评分，比较两组病例发病时的轻重程度及治疗前后两组病例组间的恢复差异。结果 研究显示，治疗前肾虚髓亏组在NIHSS评分方面高于非肾虚髓亏组（P<0.05）；治疗前肾虚髓亏组在改良Barthel指数量表及简化Fugl-Meyer运动功能评分方面低于非肾虚髓亏组（P<0.05）。治疗前后NIHSS评分、改良Barthel指数评分及简化Fugl-Meyer运动功能评分改善情况，非肾虚髓亏组要优于肾虚髓亏组（P<0.05）。治疗前两组患者在健侧内囊后肢及大脑脚外侧处FA值及ADC值无明显差异；肾虚髓亏组在患侧内囊后肢及大脑脚外侧处FA值及ADC值均低于非肾虚髓亏组（P<0.05）。相关性分析得出，两组患者患侧内囊后肢FA值与患者治疗前NIHSS评分呈负相关；两组患者患侧内囊后肢FA值与患者改良Barthel指数评分及简化Fugl-Meyer运动功能评分呈正相关；肾虚髓亏组患者患侧内囊后肢FA值与肾虚髓亏证中医证候评分呈负相关。结论 肾虚髓亏是急性缺血性脑卒中运动功能障碍的重要病机。研究结果显示，两组皮质脊髓束损伤程度与神经功能及运动功能损伤存在相关性，且肾虚髓亏组在皮质脊髓束的损伤程度方面与其中医证候评分呈负相关。     

弥散张量成像在癫痫中的研究进展

癫痫作为多种病因引起的神经系统慢性、发作性疾病,严重影响着患者的生活质量,因此对其及时诊断和早期治疗极为重要。目前已有多种神经影像技术用于癫痫的定位、定侧和病理生理研究。弥散张量成像是利用水分子在组织中弥散的各向异性成像的磁共振技术,是目前唯一能在活体中无创性地显示脑白质纤维束的方法,它能敏感地显示脑部细微结构,并能揭示各个结构间的功能联系,有助于癫痫的研究。本文主要从癫痫的病因诊断、癫痫手术的辅助指导、癫痫的结构网络及其与癫病功能障碍的相关性研究等方面对DTI应用于癫痫的最新研究进展进行综述。     

肝移植术后认知与脑改变的多模态神经成像

肝性脑病是终末期肝硬化的重要并发症,导致病人出现一系列神经及认知功能改变。肝移植术后病人在肝功能恢复的同时其认知功能也可明显改善。MRI可以从脑代谢、结构及功能方面更进一步揭示肝硬化病人移植术后认知及脑改变情况。综述肝移植术后认知改变的研究现状以及最新的多模态MRI技术在术后脑改变中的应用,及其在揭示术后认知恢复及残存损害的神经机制中的价值。     

Motion‐compensated b‐tensor encoding for in vivo cardiac diffusion‐weighted imaging

Motion is a major confound in diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) in the body, and it is a common cause of image artefacts. The effects are particularly severe in cardiac applications, due to the nonrigid cyclical deformation of the myocardium. Spin echo‐based DWI commonly employs gradient moment‐nulling techniques to desensitise the acquisition to velocity and acceleration, ie, nulling gradient moments up to the 2nd order (M2‐nulled). However, current M2‐nulled DWI scans are limited to encode diffusion along a single direction at a time. We propose a method for designing b‐tensors of arbitrary shapes, including planar, spherical, prolate and oblate tensors, while nulling gradient moments up to the 2nd order and beyond. The design strategy comprises initialising the diffusion encoding gradients in two encoding blocks about the refocusing pulse, followed by appropriate scaling and rotation, which further enables nulling undesired effects of concomitant gradients. Proof‐of‐concept assessment of in vivo mean diffusivity (MD) was performed using linear and spherical tensor encoding (LTE and STE, respectively) in the hearts of five healthy volunteers. The results of the M2‐nulled STE showed that (a) the sequence was robust to cardiac motion, and (b) MD was higher than that acquired using standard M2‐nulled LTE, where diffusion‐weighting was applied in three orthogonal directions, which may be attributed to the presence of restricted diffusion and microscopic diffusion anisotropy. Provided adequate signal‐to‐noise ratio, STE could significantly shorten estimation of MD compared with the conventional LTE approach. Importantly, our theoretical analysis and the proposed gradient waveform design may be useful in microstructure imaging beyond diffusion tensor imaging where the effects of motion must be suppressed.     

Sensory evoked potentials in patients with Rett syndrome through the lens of animal studies: Systematic review

ObjectiveSystematically review the abnormalities in event related potential (ERP) recorded in Rett Syndrome (RTT) patients and animals in search of translational biomarkers of deficits related to the particular neurophysiological processes of known genetic origin (MECP2 mutations).MethodsPubmed, ISI Web of Knowledge and BIORXIV were searched for the relevant articles according to PRISMA standards.ResultsERP components are generally delayed across all sensory modalities both in RTT patients and its animal model, while findings on ERPs amplitude strongly depend on stimulus properties and presentation rate. Studies on RTT animal models uncovered the abnormalities in the excitatory and inhibitory transmission as critical mechanisms underlying the ERPs changes, but showed that even similar ERP alterations in auditory and visual domains have a diverse neural basis. A range of novel approaches has been developed in animal studies bringing along the meaningful neurophysiological interpretation of ERP measures in RTT patients.ConclusionsWhile there is a clear evidence for sensory ERPs abnormalities in RTT, to further advance the field there is a need in a large-scale ERP studies with the functionally-relevant experimental paradigms.SignificanceThe review provides insights into domain-specific neural basis of the ERP abnormalities and promotes clinical application of the ERP measures as the non-invasive functional biomarkers of RTT pathophysiology.     

阿尔茨海默病患者脑白质损害与认知功能的关系

目的用磁共振扩散张量成像(DTI)研究阿尔茨海默病(AD)患者脑白质损害的特点及其与认知功能改变的相关性。方法对16例AD患者和12名年龄及性别相当的健康老年人行DTI、T1液体衰减反转恢复序列(FLAIR)及T2-FLAIR检查,测量胼胝体膝部和压部、内囊前肢和后肢、额颞顶枕叶白质的部分各向异性分数值(FA)和平均弥散度(MD),分析FA、MD值与简易精神状态量表(MMSE)评分之间的相关关系。结果AD患者胼胝体压部、额叶、顶叶、颞叶FA值分别为0.602±0.043、0.270±0.034、0.294±0.043、0.302±0.032,与健康老人组相比显著下降(P<0.05),且与MMSE评分呈正相关关系,而内囊前后肢、枕叶、胼胝体膝部的FA值则无明显变化(P>0.05);胼胝体压部、顶叶白质的MD值分别为(0.918±0.029)、(0.826±0.015)×10-9m2/s,与健康老人组相比显著升高(P<0.01),且与MMSE评分呈负相关,而内囊前后肢、额叶、颞叶、枕叶和胼胝体膝部的MD值则无明显变化(P>0.05)。结论AD患者表现为脑白质的选择性损害,且损害程度与认知功能密切相关;这种选择性损害反映了AD病理机制中皮质-皮质及皮质-皮质下联系的丢失;DTI技术可以用来监测疾病的进展情况及评价AD治疗药物的临床疗效。     

Influence of SENSE on image properties in high-resolution single-shot echo-planar DTI.

Limited spatial resolution is a key obstacle to the study of brain white matter structure with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). In its frequent implementation with single-excitation spin-echo echo-planar sequences, DTI's ability to resolve small structures is strongly restricted by T2 and T2* decay, B0 inhomogeneity, and limited signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this work the influence of sensitivity encoding (SENSE) on diffusion-weighted (DW) image properties is investigated. Computer simulations showed that the PSF becomes narrower with increasing SENSE reduction factors, R, enhancing the intrinsic resolution. After a brief theoretical discussion, we describe the estimation of SNR on a pixel-by-pixel basis as a function of R. The mean image SNR behavior is manifold: SENSE is capable of increasing SNR efficiency by reducing the echo time (TE). Each SNR(R) curve reveals a maximum that depends on the amount of partial Fourier encoding used. The overall best SNR efficiency for an eight-element head coil array and a b-factor of 1000 s/mm2 is achieved at R = 2.1 and partial Fourier encoding of 60%. In vivo tensor maps of volunteers and a patient, with an in-plane resolution of 0.78 x 0.78 mm2, are also presented to demonstrate the practical implementation of the parallel approach.     

磁共振弥散加权成像在脑脓肿与坏死囊变性脑肿瘤鉴别诊断中的价值

目的　评价磁共振弥散加权成像 (diffusiionwieghtedimaging ,DWI) ,在脑脓肿与坏死囊变性脑肿瘤鉴别诊断中的价值。方法　 12例经手术病理 ( 10例 )或临床随访 ( 2例 )证实的脑脓肿和 5 0例经手术病理证实的坏死囊变性脑脓肿 (其中星形细胞瘤 2 8例、脑转移瘤 10例、血管母细胞瘤 6例、听神经瘤 6例 ) ,在术前或治疗前接受了常规MRI检查及DWI。结果　脑脓肿 (脓腔 )在DWI上表现为明显的高信号 ,而脑肿瘤坏死囊变区表现为低信号。结论　DWI对脑脓肿与坏死囊变性脑肿瘤的鉴别诊断具有重价值 ,应与常规MRI序列一起列为基本序列。     

Structural white matter abnormalities in patients with idiopathic dystonia

We investigated whether structural white matter abnormalities, in the form of disruption of axonal coherence and integrity as measured with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), constitute an underlying pathological mechanism of idiopathic dystonia (ID), independent of genotype status. We studied seven subjects with ID: all had cervical dystonia as their main symptom (one patient also had spasmodic dysphonia and two patients had concurrent generalized dystonia, both DYT1‐negative). We compared DTI MR images of patients with 10 controls, evaluating differences in mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA). ID was associated with increased FA values in the thalamus and adjacent white matter, and in the white matter underlying the middle frontal gyrus. ID was also associated with increase in MD in adjacent white matter to the pallidum and putamen bilaterally, left caudate, and in subcortical hemispheric regions, including the postcentral gyrus. Abnormal FA and MD in patients with ID indicate that abnormal axonal coherence and integrity contribute to the pathophysiology of dystonia. These findings suggest that ID is not only a functional disorder, but also associated with structural brain changes. Impaired connectivity and disrupted flow of information may contribute to the impairment of motor planning and regulation in dystonia. © 2006 Movement Disorder Society