Table of Contents
Perspectives
Review Article
- Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome, Part 2: Diagnostic Work-Up, Imaging Evaluation, and Differential Diagnosis
Noninvasive vascular imaging, such as transcranial Doppler sonography and MR angiography, has played an increasingly important role is diagnosing this condition, though conventional angiography remains the reference standard for the evaluation of cerebral artery vasoconstriction.
Level 1 EBM Expedited Publication
- The Benefits of High Relaxivity for Brain Tumor Imaging: Results of a Multicenter Intraindividual Crossover Comparison of Gadobenate Dimeglumine with Gadoterate Meglumine (The BENEFIT Study)
The authors performed a crossover, intraindividual comparison of 0.1-mmol/kg gadobenate with 0.1-mmol/kg gadoterate (Arm 1) and 0.05-mmol/kg gadobenate with 0.1-mmol/kg gadoterate (Arm 2). In Arm 1, a significant superiority of 0.1-mmol/kg gadobenate was demonstrated by all readers for all end points. In Arm 2, no significant differences were observed for any reader and any end point, with the exception of percentage enhancement for reader 2 in favor of 0.05-mmol/kg gadobenate.
Patient Safety
- Temporal Bone CT: Improved Image Quality and Potential for Decreased Radiation Dose Using an Ultra-High-Resolution Scan Mode with an Iterative Reconstruction Algorithm
Patients with baseline temporal bone CT scans acquired by using a z-axis ultra-high-resolution protocol and a follow-up scan by using the ultra-high-resolution–iterative reconstruction technique were identified. Images of left and right temporal bones were reconstructed in the axial, coronal, and Poschl planes. Spatial resolution was comparable (Poschl) or slightly better (axial and coronal planes) with ultra-high-resolution–iterative reconstruction than with z-axis ultra-high-resolution. Paired t test indicated that noise was significantly lower with ultra-high-resolution–iterative reconstruction than with z-axis ultra-high-resolution.
Functional Vignette
General Contents
- Aqueductal Stroke Volume: Comparisons with Intracranial Pressure Scores in Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus
Phase-contrast MR imaging was performed in 21 patients with probable idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus. Patients were selected for shunting on the basis of pathologically increased intracranial pressure pulsatility. Patients with shunts were offered a second MR imaging after 12 months. Ventricular volume and transverse aqueductal area were calculated. No correlations between aqueductal stroke volume and preoperative scores of mean intracranial pressure or mean wave amplitudes were observed. Aqueductal stroke volume does not reflect intracranial pressure pulsatility or symptom score, but rather aqueduct area and ventricular volume.
COMMENTARY
REPLY
- Repeatability of Standardized and Normalized Relative CBV in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma
Relative CBV estimates were calculated from dynamic susceptibility contrast MR imaging in double-baseline examinations of 33 patients with treatment-naïve and pathologically proved glioblastoma multiforme. Normalized and standardized relative CBV were calculated by using 6 common postprocessing methods. The ΔR2* estimation method that incorporates leakage correction offers the best repeatability for rCBV, with standardized rCBV being less variable.
- Accuracy of Preoperative Imaging in Detecting Nodal Extracapsular Spread in Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma
A group of 111 consecutive patients with untreated oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma and available preoperative imaging and subsequent lymph node dissection was studied. Twenty nine subjects had radiographically determined extracapsular spread. Imaging sensitivity and specificity for extracapsular spread were 68% and 88%, respectively. Necrosis, irregular borders, and gross invasion were independently correlated with pathologically proved extracapsular spread.
