Project description:Accurate diagnosis of the presence and severity of neural injury in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is important in neurorehabilitation because it is essential for establishing appropriate therapeutic strategies and developing a prognosis. Diffusion tensor imaging has a unique advantage in the identification of microstructural white matter abnormalities which are not usually detectable on conventional brain magnetic resonance imaging. In this mini-review article, 12 diffusion tensor imaging studies on SAH-related brain injury were reviewed. These studies have demonstrated SAH-related brain injuries in various neural tracts or structures including the cingulum, fornix, hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal region, corticospinal tract, mamillothalamic tract, corticoreticular pathway, ascending reticular activating system, Papez circuit, optic radiation, and subcortical white matter. We believe that these reviewed studies provide information that would be helpful in science-based neurorehabilitation of patients with SAH. Furthermore, the results of these reviewed studies would also be useful for clarification of the pathophysiological mechanisms associated with SAH-related brain injury. However, considering the large number of neural tracts or neural structures in the brain, more research on SAH-related brain injury in other neural tracts or structures should be encouraged.
Project description:ObjectiveFew studies have reported on injury of the mammillothalamic tract (MTT) in patients with stroke. However, no study in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) has been reported. Using diffusion tensor tractography, we attempted to investigate injury of the MTT in patients with SAH.MethodsWe recruited 16 patients with SAH and 15 control participants. DTI was obtained at 5.7±1.5 weeks after onset and reconstruction of the MTT was performed using the probabilistic tractography method. The fractional anisotropy (FA) value and tract number of the MTT and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score were determined. Values of FA and tract volume showing a decrement of more than two SDs that of normal control were defined as abnormal.ResultsThe FA value and tract volume in the patient group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p<0.05). In addition, MMSE showed strong (r=0.67, p=0.005) positive correlation with tract volume without correlation with FA. In the individual analysis, 16 MTTs of 32 MTTs in 16 patients showed abnormalities of the MTT in terms of the FA value, the tract volume or the presence of a reconstructed MTT. As a result, 10 (62.5%) of 16 patients showed abnormality of the MTT in at least one hemisphere.ConclusionsWe found that patients with SAH showed injury of the MTT and this injury showed correlation with cognitive dysfunction.
Project description:BackgroundIn patients with intracranial aneurysm presenting with spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), 15% of them could be missed by the initial diagnostic imaging. Repeat delayed imaging can help to identify previously undetected aneurysms, however, the cost-effectiveness of this strategy remains uncertain.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to assess the cost-effectiveness of repeat delayed imaging in patients with SAH who had a negative result during their initial imaging.MethodsA Markov model was developed to estimate the lifetime costs and quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) for patients who received or not received repeat delayed imaging. The analyses were conducted from a healthcare perspective, with costs reported in UK pounds and expressed in 2020 values. Extensive sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the robustness of the results.ResultsThe base case incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of repeat delayed imaging is £9,314 per QALY compared to no-repeat delayed imaging. This ICER is below the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) £20,000 per QALY willingness-to-pay threshold. At the NICE willingness-to-pay threshold of £20,000 per QALY, the probability that repeat delayed imaging is most cost-effective is 0.81. The results are sensitive to age, the utility of survived patients with a favorable outcome, the sensitivity of repeat delayed imaging, and the prevalence of aneurysm.ConclusionsThis study showed that, in the UK, it is cost-effective to provide repeat delayed imaging using computed tomographic angiography (CTA) for patients with SAH who had a negative result in their initial imaging.
Project description:ObjectivesOnly a handful of studies have investigated the nature, functional significance, and course of white matter abnormalities associated with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) during the semi-acute stage of injury. The present study used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate white matter integrity and compared the accuracy of traditional anatomic scans, neuropsychological testing, and DTI for objectively classifying mTBI patients from controls.MethodsTwenty-two patients with semi-acute mTBI (mean = 12 days postinjury), 21 matched healthy controls, and a larger sample (n = 32) of healthy controls were studied with an extensive imaging and clinical battery. A subset of participants was examined longitudinally 3-5 months after their initial visit.ResultsmTBI patients did not differ from controls on clinical imaging scans or neuropsychological performance, although effect sizes were consistent with literature values. In contrast, mTBI patients demonstrated significantly greater fractional anisotropy as a result of reduced radial diffusivity in the corpus callosum and several left hemisphere tracts. DTI measures were more accurate than traditional clinical measures in classifying patients from controls. Longitudinal data provided preliminary evidence of partial normalization of DTI values in several white matter tracts.ConclusionsCurrent findings of white matter abnormalities suggest that cytotoxic edema may be present during the semi-acute phase of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Initial mechanical damage to axons disrupts ionic homeostasis and the ratio of intracellular and extracellular water, primarily affecting diffusion perpendicular to axons. Diffusion tensor imaging measurement may have utility for objectively classifying mTBI, and may serve as a potential biomarker of recovery.
Project description:Small acute diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) lesions can accompany intracerebral hemorrhage due to cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). We therefore examined the occurrence of such lesions in the context of CAA-related convexal subarachnoid hemorrhage (cSAH) both in a cross-sectional and longitudinal manner. DWI lesions were noted in 14/29 (48%) patients at their index cSAH and 12/21 patients (57%) showed acute small DWI lesions at follow-up MRI. Forty-four of 71 (62%) DWI lesions were spatially related to areas of cortical superficial siderosis. Clarification of the implications of our finding needs the investigation of larger patient groups.
Project description:Conventional diffusion MRI yields voxel-averaged parameters that suffer from ambiguities for heterogeneous anisotropic materials such as brain tissue. Using principles from solid-state NMR spectroscopy, we have previously introduced the shape of the diffusion encoding tensor as a separate acquisition dimension that disentangles isotropic and anisotropic contributions to the observed diffusivities, thereby allowing for unconstrained data inversion into diffusion tensor distributions with "size," "shape," and orientation dimensions. Here we combine our recent non-parametric data inversion algorithm and data acquisition protocol with an imaging pulse sequence to demonstrate spatial mapping of diffusion tensor distributions using a previously developed composite phantom with multiple isotropic and anisotropic components. We propose a compact format for visualizing two-dimensional arrays of the distributions, new scalar parameters quantifying intra-voxel heterogeneity, and a binning procedure giving maps of all relevant parameters for each of the components resolved in the multidimensional distribution space.
Project description:BackgroundSpontaneous angiogram-negative subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is considered a benign illness with little of the aneurysmal SAH-related complications. We describe the clinical course, SAH-related complications, and outcome of patients with angiogram-negative SAH.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed all adult patients admitted to a neurosurgical intensive care unit during 2004-2018 due to spontaneous angiogram-negative SAH. Our primary outcome was a dichotomized Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at 3 months. We assessed factors that associated with outcome using multivariable logistic regression analysis.ResultsOf the 108 patients included, 84% had a favorable outcome (GOS 4-5), and mortality was 5% within 1 year. The median age was 58 years, 51% were female, and 93% had a low-grade SAH (World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies grading I-III). The median number of angiograms performed per patient was two. Thirty percent of patients showed radiological signs of acute hydrocephalus, 28% were acutely treated with an external ventricular drain, 13% received active vasospasm treatment and 17% received a permanent shunt. In the multivariable logistic regression model, only acute hydrocephalus associated with unfavorable outcome (odds ratio = 4.05, 95% confidence interval = 1.05-15.73). Two patients had a new bleeding episode.ConclusionSAH-related complications such as hydrocephalus and vasospasm are common after angiogram-negative SAH. Still, most patients had a favorable outcome. Only acute hydrocephalus was associated with unfavorable outcome. The high rate of SAH-related complications highlights the need for neurosurgical care in these patients.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Few studies have examined white matter abnormalities in suicide attempters using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). This study sought to identify white matter regions altered in individuals with a prior suicide attempt. METHODS:DTI scans were acquired in 13 suicide attempters with major depressive disorder (MDD), 39 non-attempters with MDD, and 46 healthy participants (HP). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were determined in the brain using two methods: region of interest (ROI) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). ROIs were limited a priori to white matter adjacent to the caudal anterior cingulate cortex, rostral anterior cingulate cortex, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, and medial orbitofrontal cortex. RESULTS:Using the ROI approach, suicide attempters had lower FA than MDD non-attempters and HP in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Uncorrected TBSS results confirmed a significant cluster within the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex indicating lower FA in suicide attempters compared to non-attempters. There were no differences in ADC when comparing suicide attempters, non-attempters and HP groups using ROI or TBSS methods. CONCLUSIONS:Low FA in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex was associated with a suicide attempt history. Converging findings from other imaging modalities support this finding, making this region of potential interest in determining the diathesis for suicidal behavior.
Project description:PurposeInjurious mechanical ventilation causes white matter (WM) injury in preterm infants through inflammatory and haemodynamic pathways. The relative contribution of each of these pathways is not known. We hypothesised that in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect WM brain injury resulting from mechanical ventilation 24 h after preterm delivery. Further we hypothesised that the combination of inflammatory and haemodynamic pathways, induced by umbilical cord occlusion (UCO) increases brain injury at 24 h.MethodsFetuses at 124±2 days gestation were exposed, instrumented and either ventilated for 15 min using a high tidal-volume (VT) injurious strategy with the umbilical cord intact (INJ; inflammatory pathway only), or occluded (INJ+UCO; inflammatory and haemodynamic pathway). The ventilation groups were compared to lambs that underwent surgery but were not ventilated (Sham), and lambs that did not undergo surgery (unoperated control; Cont). Fetuses were placed back in utero after the 15 min intervention and ewes recovered. Twenty-four hours later, lambs were delivered, placed on a protective ventilation strategy, and underwent MRI of the brain using structural, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) techniques.ResultsAbsolute MRS concentrations of creatine and choline were significantly decreased in INJ+UCO compared to Cont lambs (P = 0.03, P = 0.009, respectively); no significant differences were detected between the INJ or Sham groups and the Cont group. Axial diffusivities in the internal capsule and frontal WM were lower in INJ and INJ+UCO compared to Cont lambs (P = 0.05, P = 0.04, respectively). Lambs in the INJ and INJ+UCO groups had lower mean diffusivities in the frontal WM compared to Cont group (P = 0.04). DTI colour mapping revealed lower diffusivity in specific WM regions in the Sham, INJ, and INJ+UCO groups compared to the Cont group, but the differences did not reach significance. INJ+UCO lambs more likely to exhibit lower WM diffusivity than INJ lambs.ConclusionsTwenty-four hours after injurious ventilation, DTI and MRS showed increased brain injury in the injuriously ventilated lambs compared to controls. DTI colour mapping threshold approach provides evidence that the haemodynamic and inflammatory pathways have additive effects on the progression of brain injury compared to the inflammatory pathway alone.