Discriminating Reflux from Non-Reflux Diseases of Superficial Veins in Legs by Novel Non-Contrast MR with QFlow Technique.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Tseng YH
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8066982 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:(1) Background: To assess the effectiveness of triggered angiography non-contrast-enhanced (TRANCE)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in superficial venous reflux and its difference from health controls. (2) Methods: Thirty patients underwent TRANCE MRI before surgical intervention of their superficial venous reflux of the legs. Ten healthy volunteers were included as a control. (3) Results: TRANCE MRI involves the major tributaries, thus enhances the additional ablations in 20% of patients. QFlow pattern of superficial venous reflux (QFlow GSV/PV MF ratio > 1) was compared with the duplex scan (SFJ reflux) using Cohen's kappa coefficient at 0.967. The 30 morbid legs undergoing TRANCE MRI-guide interventions and the healthy volunteers' legs on the same side were compared. The stroke volumes (SV) are higher in EIV (p = 0.021) in the left-leg-intervention group. The mean flux (MF) is higher in the EIV (p = 0.012) and trend of increasing in GSV segment (p = 0.087) in the left-leg-intervention group. The QFlow of 10 patients with right leg intervention are higher in GSV in the right-leg-intervention group (SV p = 0.002; FFV p = 0.001; MF p = 0.001). QFlow data is shown for all legs for superficial venous intervention with GSV/PV (MF) ratio > 1. (4) Conclusions: Typical figures in QFlow (GSV/PV MF ratio > 1) could be observed in the morbid limbs but not in the controls.
| S-EPMC8398290 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Since venous reflux is difficult to quantify, triggered angiography non-contrast-enhanced (TRANCE)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a novel tool for objectively evaluating venous diseases in the lower extremities without using contrast media. This study included 26 pre-intervention patients with superficial venous reflux in the lower extremities and 15 healthy volunteers. The quantitative flow (QFlow) analyzed the phase shift information from the pixels within the region of interest from MRI. The fast and simple radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) learning model is constructed by determining the parameters of the radial basis function and the weights of the neural network. The input parameters were the variables generated through QFlow, while the output variables were morbid limbs with venous reflux and normal limb classification. The stroke volume, forward flow volume, absolute stroke volume, mean flux, stroke distance, and mean velocity of greater saphenous veins from QFlow analysis could be used to discriminate the morbid limbs of pre-intervention patients and normal limbs of healthy controls. The neural network successfully classified the morbid and normal limbs with an accuracy of 90.24% in the training stage. The classification of venous reflux using the RBFNN model may assist physicians in clinical settings.
| S-EPMC9958037 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PURPOSE: To evaluate a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging contrast technique, called FLAIR*, that combines the advantages of T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) contrast and T2*-weighted contrast on a single image for assessment of white matter (WM) diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective pilot study was HIPAA compliant and institutional review board approved. Ten patients with clinically definite MS (eight men, two women; mean age, 41 years) provided informed consent and underwent 3.0-T MR imaging. Images from a T2-weighted FLAIR sequence were combined with images from a T2*-weighted segmented echo-planar imaging sequence performed during contrast material injection, yielding high-isotropic-resolution (0.55 × 0.55 × 0.55 mm(3)) FLAIR* images. Qualitative assessment was performed for image quality, lesion conspicuity, and vein conspicuity. Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was calculated to compare normal-appearing WM (NAWM) with cerebrospinal fluid, lesions, and veins. To evaluate the differences in CNR among imaging modalities, a bootstrap procedure clustered on subjects was used, together with paired t tests. RESULTS: High-quality FLAIR* images of the brain were produced at 3.0 T, yielding conspicuous lesions and veins. Lesion-to-NAWM and NAWM-to-vein CNR values were significantly higher for FLAIR* images than for T2-weighted FLAIR images (P < .0001). Findings on FLAIR* images included intralesional veins for lesions located throughout the brain and a hypointense rim around some WM lesions. CONCLUSION: High-isotropic-resolution FLAIR* images obtained at 3.0 T yield high contrast for WM lesions and parenchymal veins, making it well suited to investigate the relationship between WM abnormalities and veins in a clinical setting.
| S-EPMC3504317 | biostudies-other
Project description:Modern neurosurgery uses preoperative imaging daily. Three-dimensional reconstruction of the cortical anatomy and of the superficial veins helps the surgeons plan and perform neurosurgical procedures much more safely. The target is always to give the patient maximum benefit in terms of outcome and minimize intraoperative and postoperative complications. This study aims to develop a method for the combined representation of the cerebral cortex anatomy and the superficial cerebral veins, whose integration is beneficial in daily practice. Only those patients who underwent surgical procedures with craniotomy and a large opening of the dura mater were included in this study, for a total of 23 patients, 13 females (56.5%) and 10 males (43.5%). The average age was 50.1 years. We used a magnetic resonance tomograph Magnetom Vision® 1.5T (Siemens AG). Two sequences were applied: a strongly T1-weighted magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition with gradient echo (MPRAGE) sequence to visualize cerebral anatomical structures, and a FLASH-2D-TOF angiography sequence to visualize the venous vessels on the cortical surface after the administration of a paramagnetic contrast agent. The two data sets were superimposed manually, co-registered in an interactive process, and merged to create a combined data set, segmented and visualized as a three-dimensional reconstruction. Furthermore, we present our method for visualizing superficial veins, which helps manage brain shift (BS). We also performed anatomical observations on the reconstructions. The reconstructions of the cortical and venous anatomy proved to be a valuable tool in surgical planning and positively influenced the surgical procedure. Due to the good correlation with the existing surgical site, this method should be validated on a larger cohort or in a multicentric study.
| S-EPMC7771049 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A direct evaluation of the in vivo release profile of drugs from carriers is a clinical demand in drug delivery systems, because drug release characterized in vitro correlates poorly with in vivo release. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the in vivo applicability of the dual MR contrast technique as a useful tool for noninvasive monitoring of the stability and the release profile of drug carriers, by visualizing in vivo release of the encapsulated surrogate MR contrast agent from carriers and its subsequent intratumoral distribution profile. The important aspect of this technique is that it incorporates both positive and negative contrast agents within a single carrier. GdDTPA, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, and 5-fluorouracil were encapsulated in nano- and microspheres composed of poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide), which was used as a model carrier. In vivo studies were performed with orthotopic xenograft of human breast cancer. The MR-based technique demonstrated here has enabled visualization of the delivery of carriers, and release and intratumoral distribution of the encapsulated positive contrast agent. This study demonstrated proof-of-principle results for the noninvasive monitoring of in vivo release and distribution profiles of MR contrast agents, and thus, this technique will make a great contribution to the field.
| S-EPMC2917222 | biostudies-literature
Project description:We present a novel integrative computerized solution to automatically identify and differentiate pulmonary arteries and veins depicted on chest computed tomography (CT) without iodinated contrast agents. We first identified the central extrapulmonary arteries and veins using a convolutional neural network (CNN) model. Then, a computational differential geometry method was used to automatically identify the tubular-like structures in the lungs with high densities, which we believe are the intrapulmonary vessels. Beginning with the extrapulmonary arteries and veins, we progressively traced the intrapulmonary vessels by following their skeletons and differentiated them into arteries and veins. Instead of manually labeling the numerous arteries and veins in the lungs for machine learning, this integrative strategy limits the manual effort only to the large extrapulmonary vessels. We used a dataset consisting of 120 chest CT scans acquired on different subjects using various protocols to develop, train, and test the algorithms. Our experiments on an independent test set (n = 15) showed promising performance. The computer algorithm achieved a sensitivity of ∼98% in labeling the pulmonary artery and vein branches when compared with a human expert's results, demonstrating the feasibility of our computerized solution in pulmonary artery/vein labeling.
| S-EPMC8901546 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This article describes our initial clinical experience with time-resolved MR angiography (MRA) of the legs using the time-resolved imaging with stochastic trajectories (TWIST) technique with a half dose of gadolinium.Thirty-four patients underwent a TWIST examination of the legs at 3 T. Thirty-three patients also underwent a bolus-chase MRA examination in the same setting. Times elapsed between the start of contrast injection and the appearance of contrast material (t(A)) and peak enhancement of the arteries in the legs (t(B)) were analyzed. The number of patients with examinations affected by venous contamination was determined. The differences in t(A) and t(B) between cases in which venous contamination was present or absent were evaluated using a two-tailed Student t test.The TWIST technique using a half dose of gadolinium provided diagnostic-quality images of all patients. The mean t(A) was 35.5 ± 8.8 (SD) seconds (range, 17.8-60.4 seconds), and the mean t(B) was 59.1 ± 15.1 seconds (range, 31-98.8 seconds). Venous contamination was observed in bolus-chase MRA images of 52.9% of patients. The relationship between venous contamination and t(A) was not statistically significant (p = 0.13). The incidence of venous contamination was higher in patients with lower values of t(B) (p = 0.01).The described low-dose clinical experience with TWIST and the contrast dynamics information gained from this study could aid radiologists in planning protocols for leg MRA examinations.
| S-EPMC3963831 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PURPOSE:Many brain diseases are associated with an alteration in blood-brain barrier (BBB) and its permeability. Current methods using contrast agent are primarily sensitive to major leakage of BBB to macromolecules, but may not detect subtle changes in BBB permeability. The present study aims to develop a novel non-contrast MRI technique for the assessment of BBB permeability to water. METHODS:The central principle is that by measuring arterially labeled blood spins that are drained into cerebral veins, water extraction fraction (E) and permeability-surface-area product (PS) of BBB can be determined. Four studies were performed. We first demonstrated the proof-of-principle using conventional ASL with very long post-labeling delays (PLD). Next, a new sequence, dubbed water-extraction-with-phase-contrast-arterial-spin-tagging (WEPCAST), and its Look-Locker (LL) version were developed. Finally, we demonstrated that the sensitivity of the technique can be significantly enhanced by acquiring the data under mild hypercapnia. RESULTS:By combining a strong background suppression with long PLDs (2500-4500 ms), ASL spins were reliably detected in the superior sagittal sinus (SSS), demonstrating the feasibility of measuring this signal. The WEPCAST sequence eliminated partial voluming effects of tissue perfusion and allowed quantitative estimation of E = 95.5 ± 1.1% and PS = 188.9 ± 13.4 mL/100 g/min, which were in good agreement with literature reports. LL-WEPCAST sequence shortened the scan time from 19 min to 5 min while providing results consistent with multiple single-PLD acquisitions. Mild hypercapnia increased SNR by 78 ± 25% without causing a discomfort in participants. CONCLUSION:A new non-contrast technique for the assessment of global BBB permeability was developed, which may have important clinical applications.
| S-EPMC6097906 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Venous interventions of the legs are less predictable owing to a lock of objective tools. One hundred and twenty patients with lower extremity venous disease were evaluated anatomically using TRANCE MRI. Then, a QFlow analysis was performed in 53 patients with only one leg affected for hemodynamic evaluation. Those patients with complete QFlow were classified into obstructive and nonobstructive. The QFlow-namely, stroke volume, forward flow volume, mean flux, stroke distance (SD), and mean velocity (MV) in the external iliac vein (EIV), femoral vein (FV), popliteal vein (PV), and great saphenous vein (GSV). The obstructed group had a shorter SD and lower MV in the EIV, EIV/FV, and GSV/PV (SD: p-values of 0.025, 0.05, and 0.043, respectively; MV: p-values of 0.02, 0.05, and 0.048, respectively). A good performance in discriminating obstructive venous disease was reported for SD in the EIV (area under the curve (AUC) = 67.9%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 53.2-82.7%), EIV/FV (AUC = 72.4%, 95% CI = 58.2-86.5%), and GSV/PV (AUC = 67.9%, 95% CI = 51.7-84.1%). The SD in the EIV, EIV/FV, and GSV/PV had the ability to discriminate between obstructive and nonobstructive diseases (p-values of 0.025, 0.005, and 0.043). The MV in the EIV, EIV/FV, and GSV/PV had ability to discriminate between obstructive and nonobstructive venous diseases (p-values of 0.02, 0.005, and 0.048). The SD and MV were lower for obstructive than nonobstructive disease in the EIV.
| S-EPMC8394703 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is a means to obtain direct measurements of local tissue susceptibility distribution. Usually the focus is on imaging tissues in the brain, and the region of the brain studied is dictated by an eroded skull stripped mask. Producing the pristine local phase behavior for regions at the edge of the brain has been difficult in the past. For structures such as the superior sagittal sinus (SSS) that run alongside the surface of the brain and under the skull bones, a considerable part of the external phase from the dipole effect is lost due to the short T2* of the bones. In this paper, we propose a method that seeks to reconstruct the susceptibility distribution inside the dural sinuses by ensuring that the entire geometry of the dural sinuses is preserved with the help of an MR angiogram and venogram (MRAV). Having a geometrical model of the vessels makes it possible to estimate the missing phase outside the brain as well, by using the forward phase model and, hence, allowing a complete phase map to be reconstructed. Fifteen healthy volunteers were scanned using a susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) sequence with interleaved rephased-dephased echoes. QSM results were compared between the conventional techniques and the proposed method of phase preservation outside the brain and inside the dural sinuses. This method demonstrates the reconstruction of the SSS, whereas conventional methods are either unable to preserve this structure or unable to provide complete phase information. The mean and standard deviation inside the SSS for all volunteers was 435?±?5?ppb (this is the inter-subject error). To validate the proposed approach, the mean susceptibility inside the straight sinus showed good agreement between conventional approach and the proposed method. The results presented in this study indicate the potential of generating the susceptibility map for the whole brain, including the SSS (as well as potentially all the cortical veins).
| S-EPMC6386161 | biostudies-literature