There is considerable evidence that neuroimaging findings can improve the early diagnosis of Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) in clinical settings. The most distinctive neuroimaging finding of acute WE are cytotoxic edema and vasogenic edema, which are represented by bilateral symmetric hyperintensity alterations on T2-weighted MR images in the periphery of the third ventricle, periaqueductal area, mammillary bodies and midbrain tectal plate. An initial bout of WE can result in Korsakoff's syndrome (KS), but repeated bouts in conjunction with its typical comorbidity, chronic alcoholism, can result in signs of tissue degeneration in vulnerable brain regions. Chronic abnormalities identified with neuroimaging enable examination of brain damage in living patients with KS and have expanded the understanding of the neuropsychological deficits resulting from thiamine deficiency, alcohol neurotoxicity, and their comorbidity. Brain structure and functional studies indicate that the interactions involving the thalamus, mammillary bodies, hippocampus, frontal lobes, and cerebellum are crucial for memory formation and executive functions, and the interruption of these circuits by WE and chronic alcoholism can contribute substantially to the neuropsychological deficits in KS.
Microtomographic techniques are widely used for studying the trabecular architectures in the orthopedics and elucidation of tooth micromorphology in the field of dentistry. Its application to assess the osseointegration of dental implants has been studied as a non-invasive method, contrary to several conventional methods. The aim of this study is to evaluate the possibility of microtomography as a tool for assessing osseointegration. Twenty-four titanium dental implants (3.75 mm in diameter and 7 mm in total length) were installed in the tibia of New Zealand white rabbits, and retrieved with the surrounding bone after 3 months. The specimens were analyzed by three-dimensional microtomogram images (Skyscan 1074) and compared with the conventional histomorphography. The correlation coefficient was found to be 0.855, which means the two data sources are significantly correlated statistically. To predict the histomorphometric data using microtomographic data, a linear regression model was applied. These results showed some promise of using microtomograms for non-invasive osseointegration assessment if the methods can be calibrated more precisely by further study.
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