BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Phase-contrast MR imaging (PCMR) has only partially characterized cyclic CSF flow and pressure, which, hypothetically, have a role in the pathogenesis of syrinx and symptoms in the Chiari I malformation. Our goal was to use computational flow analysis (CFA) to better understand CSF hydrodynamics.
Long-standing pulmonary hypertension causes significant peripheral and proximal arterial remodeling and right ventricular dysfunction. The clinical metric most often used to assess the progression of PH is the pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). However, even when measured from multi-point pressure-flow curves, PVR provides information only on the peripheral arterial function, not the proximal arterial function and gives only an incomplete description of all the forces that oppose right ventricular (RV) flow output. Pulmonary vascular impedance spectra (PVZ) capture the impact of proximal and peripheral arterial structure and function on RV function. Analyses of ventricular-vascular coupling give insight into the efficiency of mechanical and metabolic interactions between the right ventricle and the pulmonary vasculature. Here we review techniques for measuring PVZ in humans and animal models and for determining RV function.
The current Dana Point classification system (2009) divides elevation of pulmonary artery pressure into Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) and Pulmonary Hypertension (PH). Fortunately, pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is not a common disease. However, with the aging of the first world’s population, heart failure is now an important cause of pulmonary hypertension with up to 9% of the population involved. PAH is usually asymptomatic until late in the disease process. While there are indirect features of PAH found on noninvasive imaging studies, the diagnosis and management still requires right heart catheterization. Imaging features of PAH include: 1. Enlargement of the pulmonary trunk and main pulmonary arteries, 2. Decreased pulmonary arterial compliance, 3. Tapering of the peripheral pulmonary arteries, 4. Enlargement of the inferior vena cava, and 5. Increased mean transit time. The chronic requirement to generate high pulmonary arterial pressures measurably affects the right heart and main pulmonary artery. This change in physiology causes the following structural and functional alterations that have been shown to have prognostic significance: Relative area change of the pulmonary trunk, RVSVindex, RVSV, RVEDVindex, LVEDVindex, and baseline RVEF <35%. All of these variables can be quantified non-invasively and followed longitudinally in each patient using MRI to modify the treatment regimen. Untreated PAH frequently results in a rapid clinical decline and death within 3 years of diagnosis. Unfortunately, even with treatment, less than 1/2 of these patients are alive at four years.
Roldán A, Figueras-Aloy J, Deulofeu R, Jiménez R. Glycine and other neurotransmitter amino acids in cerebrospinal fluid in perinatal asphyxia and neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy. Acta Paediatr 1999; 88: 1137-41. Stockholm. ISSN 0803-5253The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of neurotransmitter amino acids in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of asphyctic newborns, and to establish whether these concentrations are related to the degree of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE). Levels of glutamate, aspartate, glycine and taurine in CSF were measured in 48 full-term newborns during the first 2 d of life. Thirty-nine of these newborns had birth asphyxia and were divided into three groups: 11 without HIE, 19 with mild HIE and 9 with moderate HIE. None suffered from severe HIE. They were compared with a control group of 9 non-hypoxic newborns. Determinations of the amino acids in CSF were made by chromatography and expressed as mmol/l (mean AE SD). CSF glycine value was related to erythrocyte count, and CSF taurine value was related to its plasmatic level. Levels of CSF glycine were related to the severity of HIE (p = 0.020): control (12.08 AE 4.
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