This capability of diffusion tensor imaging to reliably display secondary alterations to the white matter tracts caused by the primary lesion has the potential to be of great utility for treatment planning and follow-up.”
“Introduction An automated procedure for the detection, quantification, localization and statistical mapping of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) on T2-weighted magnetic Bromosporine resonance (MR) images is presented and validated based on the results of a between-centre reproducibility study.
Methods The first step is the identification
of white matter (WM) tissue using a multispectral (T1, T2, PD) segmentation. In a second step, WMH are identified within the WM tissue by segmenting T2 images, isolating two different classes of WMH voxels-low- and high-contrast WMH voxels, respectively. The reliability of the whole procedure was assessed by applying it MRT67307 concentration to the analysis of two large MR imaging databases (n = 650 and n = 710, respectively) of healthy elderly subjects
matched for demographic characteristics.
Results Average overall WMH load and spatial distribution were found to be similar in the two samples, (1.81 and 1.79% of the WM volume, respectively). White matter hyperintensity load was found to be significantly associated with both age and high blood pressure, with similar effects in both samples. With specific reference to the 650 subject cohort, we also found that WMH load provided by this automated procedure was significantly associated with visual grading of the
Tryptophan synthase severity of WMH, as assessed by a trained neurologist.
Conclusion The results show that this method is sensitive, well correlated with semi-quantitative visual rating and highly reproducible.”
“Introduction We report an in vitro study comparing the effectiveness of clot removal and clot fragmentation of five embolectomy systems.
Methods A flow model was embolized with fresh and old thrombi, occluding an inner diameter of 2-5 mm simulating internal carotid artery (ICA), basilar artery (BA) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) branch occlusion. Embolectomy was performed using five retrieval systems: CATCH (Balt), Merci retriever (Concentric), InTime and Attracter (Boston Scientific), and the Phenox Clot Retriever (Phenox). Clot removal and evidence and type of thrombus fragmentation and distal embolization were recorded.
Results There were no observable differences attributable to thrombus age. The Merci, CATCH and Phenox Clot Retriever were equally able to mobilize and remove thrombi with the exception of one particularly firm clot. There were marked differences in terms of thrombus fragmentation and distal embolization. All devices produced micro- and macrofragments during penetration and retrieval. The Phenox Clot Retriever was able to filter fragments.