Background: Balanced Steady State Free Precession (b-SSFP) sequences and the newly developed Fast-Spin-Echo (FSE)-sequences enable an optimized visualization of neurovascular compression (NVC) in patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Arterial conflicts are mostly associated with a favorable outcome of microvascular decompression (MVD) compared to venous conflicts. An additional Time-of-Flight (TOF) angiography provides the differentiation between offending arteries and veins and a precise counselling of the patient concerning postoperative pain relief. The goal of this study was to analyze the reliability and impact of the combination of highly-resoluted MRI techniques on the correct prediction of the vessel type and the estimation of postoperative outcome of microvascular decompression (MVD). Methods: In total, 48 patients (m/f: 32/16) underwent MVD for TN. All the preoperative imaging data (T2: b-SFFP and FSE, MRA: TOF) were compared to the intraoperative microsurgical findings during MVD. b-SFFP was available in 14 patients, FSE in 34 patients and an additional TOF sequence was available in 38 patients (9 times in combination with b-SSFP, 29 times in combination with FSE). The patients were categorized into four subgroups: 1) NVC negative, 2) venous NVC, 3) arterial NVC, 4) combined arterial and venous NVC. The preoperative MRI findings were compared to the intraoperative morphological findings. Postoperative pain relief was quantified by the Barrow Neurological Institute pain score. Results: Twenty-five purely arterial NVC, 9 purely venous NVC and 5 combined arterial and venous NVC were detected by MRI. In 9 cases NVC was absent on MRI. Overall, the MRI findings correctly predicted the intraoperative findings in 91.7% of the 48 patients. The percentage of correct prediction increased from 80 to 94.7%, when TOF angiography was adjoined. Conclusion: The visualization of the trigeminal nerve using sequences such as b-SSFP or FSE in combination with TOF angiography enables an optimized delineation of arterial and venous neurovascular conflicts and may allow a more reliable differentiation between veins and arteries, resulting in superior prediction of postoperative pain relief compared to T2 imaging data alone.
Background Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common dementia type in patients older than 65 years. Its atrophy patterns remain unknown. Its similarities to Parkinson's disease and differences from Alzheimer's disease are subjects of current research. Methods The aim of our study was (i) to form a group of patients with DLB (and a control group) and create a 3D MRI data set (ii) to volumetrically analyze the entire brain in these groups, (iii) to evaluate visual and manual metric measurements of the innominate substance for real-time diagnosis, and (iv) to compare our groups and results with the latest literature. We identified 102 patients with diagnosed DLB in our psychiatric and neurophysiological archives. After exclusion, 63 patients with valid 3D data sets remained. We compared them with a control group of 25 patients of equal age and sex distribution. We evaluated the atrophy patterns in both (1) manually and (2) via Fast Surfers segmentation and volumetric calculations. Subgroup analyses were done of the CSF data and quality of 3D T1 data sets. Results Concordant with the literature, we detected moderate, symmetric atrophy of the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex and amygdala, as well as asymmetric atrophy of the right parahippocampal gyrus in DLB. The caudate nucleus was unaffected in patients with DLB, while all the other measured territories were slightly too moderately atrophied. The area under the curve analysis of the left hippocampus volume ratio (< 3646mm3) revealed optimal 76% sensitivity and 100% specificity (followed by the right hippocampus and left amygdala). The substantia innominata’s visual score attained a 51% optimal sensitivity and 84% specificity, and the measured distance 51% optimal sensitivity and 68% specificity in differentiating DLB from our control group. Conclusions In contrast to other studies, we observed a caudate nucleus sparing atrophy of the whole brain in patients with DLB. As the caudate nucleus is known to be the last survivor in dopamine-uptake, this could be the result of an overstimulation or compensation mechanism deserving further investigation. Its relative hypertrophy compared to all other brain regions could enable an imaging based identification of patients with DLB via automated segmentation and combined volumetric analysis of the hippocampus and amygdala.
Background Brain metastases are particularly common in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with NSCLC showing a less aggressive clinical course and lower chemo- and radio sensitivity compared to SCLC. Early adequate therapy is highly desirable and depends on a reliable classification of tumor type. The apparent diffusion coefficient is a noninvasive neuroimaging marker with the potential to differentiate between major histological subtypes. Here we determine the sensitivity and specificity of the apparent diffusion coefficient to distinguish between NSCLC and SCLC. Methods We enrolled all NSCLC and SCLC patients diagnosed between 2008 and 2019 at the University Medical Center Göttingen. Cranial MR scans were visually inspected for brain metastases and the ratio of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was calculated by dividing the ADC measured within the solid part of a metastasis by a reference ADC extracted from an equivalent region in unaffected tissue on the contralateral hemisphere. Results Out of 411 enrolled patients, we detected 129 patients (83 NSCLC, 46 SCLC) with sufficiently large brain metastases with histologically classified lung cancer and no hemorrhage. We analyzed 185 brain metastases, 84 of SCLC and 101 of NSCLC. SCLC brain metastases showed an ADC ratio of 0.68 ± 0.12 SD, and NSCLC brain metastases showed an ADC ratio of 1.47 ± 0.31 SD. Receiver operating curve statistics differentiated brain metastases of NSCLC from SCLC with an area under the curve of 0.99 and a 95% CI of 0.98 to 1, p < 0.001. Youden's J cut-point is 0.97 at a sensitivity of 0.989 and a specificity of 0.988. Conclusions In patients with lung cancer and brain metastases with solid tumor parts, ADC ratio enables an ad hoc differentiation of SCLC and NSCLC, easily achieved during routine neuroradiological examination. Non-invasive MR imaging enables an early-individualized management of brain metastases from lung cancer. Trial registration: The study was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00023016).
BackgroundDementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a type of dementia often diagnosed in older patients. Since its initial symptoms range from delirium to psychiatric and cognitive symptoms, the diagnosis is often delayed.ObjectivesIn our study, we evaluated the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of patients suffering from DLB in correlation with their initial symptoms taking a new pragmatic approach entailing manual measurements in addition to an automated volumetric analysis of MRI.MethodsA total of 63 patients with diagnosed DLB and valid 3D data sets were retrospectively and blinded evaluated. We assessed atrophy patterns (1) manually for the substantia innominata and (2) via FastSurfer for the most common supratentorial regions. Initial symptoms were categorized by (1) mild cognitive impairment (MCI), (2) psychiatric episodes, and (3) delirium.ResultsManual metric MRI measurements revealed moderate, but significant substantia-innominata (SI) atrophy in patients with a psychiatric onset. FastSurfer analysis revealed no regional volumetric differences between groups.ConclusionThe SI in patients with DLB and a psychiatric-onset is more atrophied than that in patients with initial MCI. Our results suggest potential differences in SI between DLB subtypes at the prodromal stage, which are useful when taking a differential-diagnostic approach. This finding should be confirmed in larger patient cohorts.
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