Hypothalamic Lipoma: Outcome of an Intracranial Developmental Lesion

Background. Hypothalamic lipomas are benign developmental lesions that tend to be discovered incidentally. This article describes the radiological features, outcome, and the postulated theories behind hypothalamic lipomas development. Methods. The electronic archive of neurosurgery was retrospectively reviewed. All patients with a neuroradiological diagnosis of hypothalamic lipoma, between 2005 and 2020, were included. Results. Out of 246 patients with intracranial lipomas, a total of six patients with hypothalamic lipomas have been identified. On computed tomography images, one of the hypothalamic lipomas demonstrated calcification. On magnetic resonance imaging, peripheral enhancement after contrast administration was noted in one of the lesions. Considering the benign nature of the lesions, neurosurgical intervention was not indicated. Conclusion. The majority of patients with hypothalamic lipomas are asymptomatic and undergo brain imaging for other indications. Although uncommon, such developmental lesions can be identified in the general population, especially with the advancement of neuroimaging techniques.

Return to Work Within Four Months of Grade 3 Diffuse Axonal Injury

Neuroprognostication following diffuse axonal injury (DAI) has historically relied on neuroimaging techniques with lower spatial resolution and contrast than techniques currently available in clinical practice. Since the initial studies of DAI classification and prognosis in the 1980s and 1990s, advances in neuroimaging have improved detection of brainstem microbleeds, a hallmark feature of Grade 3 DAI that has traditionally been associated with poor neurologic outcome. Here, we report clinical and radiologic data from two patients with severe traumatic brain injury and grade 3 DAI who recovered functional independence and returned to work within 4 months of injury. Importantly, both patients were scanned using 3 Tesla MRI protocols that included susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), a technique that provides enhanced sensitivity for detecting brainstem microbleeds. These observations highlight the importance of developing approaches to DAI classification and prognosis that better align with contemporary neuroimaging capabilities.

CLASSIC FINDING OF DANDY-WALKER MALFORMATION- CASE REPORT

Summary: The frequency and importance of posterior fossa evaluation has increased signicantly in the last 20 years due to advances in neuroimaging. Today, conventional and advanced neuroimaging techniques allow a detailed assessment of the complex anatomical structures within the posterior fossa. A wide spectrum of congenital anomalies (anomalies due to an alteration of the primary developmental program caused by a genetic defect) and due to the breakdown of a structure that had a potential for normal development has been demonstrated. Knowledge of the spectrum of congenital anomalies of the posterior fossa and its well-dened diagnostic criteria is essential for optimal therapy, an accurate prognosis, and correct genetic counseling. Objective: Analyze the importance of the precise diagnosis of congenital anomalies of the posterior fossa, emphasizing Dandy Walker syndrome, through a clinical case. Design: Prospective, observational in a single center. Methodology: This is a systematic review, Dandy Walker syndrome, detailing its clinical characteristics and short-term complications. The information and images obtained belong to the medical personnel in charge of the case, whose reinforcements are provided by the Excel, Word and JPG statistical package.

Improving Diagnosis and Prognosis in Acute Severe Brain Injury: A Multimodal Imaging Protocol

Multi-modal neuroimaging techniques have the potential to dramatically improve the diagnosis of the level consciousness and prognostication of neurological outcome for patients with severe brain injury in the intensive care unit (ICU). This protocol describes a study that will utilize functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure and map the brain activity of acute critically ill patients. Our goal is to investigate whether these modalities can provide objective and quantifiable indicators of good neurological outcome and reliably detect conscious awareness. To this end, we will conduct a prospective longitudinal cohort study to validate the prognostic and diagnostic utility of neuroimaging techniques in the ICU. We will recruit 350 individuals from two ICUs over the course of 7 years. Participants will undergo fMRI, EEG, and fNIRS testing several times over the first 10 days of care to assess for residual cognitive function and evidence of covert awareness. Patients who regain behavioral awareness will be asked to complete web-based neurocognitive tests for 1 year, as well as return for follow up neuroimaging to determine which acute imaging features are most predictive of cognitive and functional recovery. Ultimately, multi-modal neuroimaging techniques may improve the clinical assessments of patients' level of consciousness, aid in the prediction of outcome, and facilitate efforts to find interventional methods that improve recovery and quality of life.

A Narrative Review of Clinical researches of Acupuncture treatment for Depression using Neuroimaging method: Focusing on SCI papers

Objectives: The purpose of this article was to investigate the current status of clinical studies of acupuncture treatment for depression using neuroimaging method, focusing on SCI papers.Methods: We searched for clinical trial studies of acupuncture treatment for depression using neuroimaging method in the MEDLINE (Pubmed), OASIS, and RISS database. Once the online search was finished, studies were selected manually by the inclusion criteria. Finally, we analyzed the characteristics of selected articles and reviewed the neural substrates of acupuncture treatment in depression.Results: Total eight studies were included in this study. The most frequently utilized modality was functional MRI. The most frequently selected acupoint for depression was GV20. Several studies revealed that acupuncture treatment could improve the symptoms of depression. In this manuscript, we demonstrated that neuroimaging techniques could capture the neural substrates associated with depression and acupuncture treatment may modulate the activation of brain areas which were impaired in depression in a different way from sham acupuncture.Conclusions: Utilizing neuroimaging methods to explore neural mechanism of acupuncture treatment on depression would be helpful in clinical trials and more efforts should be needed in this fields.

Current approaches and advances in the imaging of stroke

ABSTRACT A stroke occurs when the blood flow to the brain is suddenly interrupted, depriving brain cells of oxygen and glucose and leading to further cell death. Neuroimaging techniques, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, have greatly improved our ability to visualise brain structures and are routinely used to diagnose the affected vascular region of a stroke patient's brain and to inform decisions about clinical care. Currently, these multimodal imaging techniques are the backbone of the clinical management of stroke patients and have immensely improved our ability to visualise brain structures. Here, we review recent developments in the field of neuroimaging and discuss how different imaging techniques are used in the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of stroke.

Complexity Assessment of Chronic Pain in Elderly Knee Osteoarthritis Based on Neuroimaging Recognition Techniques

The chronic pain of knee osteoarthritis in the elderly is investigated in detail in this paper, as well as the complexity of chronic pain utilising neuroimaging recognition techniques. Chronic pain in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) has a major effect on patients’ quality of life and functional activities; therefore, understanding the causes of KOA pain and the analgesic advantages of different therapies is important. In recent years, neuroimaging techniques have become increasingly important in basic and clinical pain research. Thanks to the application and development of neuroimaging techniques in the study of chronic pain in KOA, researchers have found that chronic pain in KOA contains both injury-receptive and neuropathic pain components. The neuropathic pain mechanism that causes KOA pain is complicated, and it may be produced by peripheral or central sensitization, but it has not gotten enough attention in clinical practice, and there is no agreement on how to treat combination neuropathic pain KOA. As a result, using neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), this review examines the changes in brain pathophysiology-related regions caused by KOA pain, compares the latest results in pain assessment and prediction, and clarifies the central brain analgesic mechanistic. The capsule network model is introduced in this paper from the perspective of deep learning network structure to construct an information-complete and reversible image low-level feature bridge using isotropic representation, predict the corresponding capsule features from MRI voxel responses, and then, complete the accurate reconstruction of simple images using inverse transformation. The proposed model improves the structural similarity index by about 10%, improves the reconstruction performance of low-level feature content in simple images by about 10%, and achieves feature interpretation and analysis of low-level visual cortical fMRI voxels by visualising capsule features, according to the experimental results.

Thrombolysis in Acute Stroke

The first step in stroke care is early detection of stroke patients and recanalization of the occluded vessel. Rapid and effective revascularization is the cornerstone of acute ischemic stroke management. Intravenous thrombolysis is the only approved pharmacological reperfusion therapy for patients with acute ischemic stroke. Patient selection criteria based on patient characteristics, time, clinical findings and advanced neuroimaging techniques have positively affected treatment outcomes. Recent studies show that the presence of salvageable brain tissue can extend the treatment window for intravenous thrombolysis and that these patients can be treated safely. Recent evidence provides stronger support for another thrombolytic agent, tenecteplase, as an alternative to alteplase. Endovascular thrombectomy is not a contraindication for intravenous thrombolysis. Evidence shows that the bridging approach provides better clinical outcomes. It is seen that intravenous thrombolysis is beneficial in stroke patients, whose symptom onset is not known, after the presence of penumbra tissue is revealed by advanced neuroimaging techniques. Reperfusion therapy with intravenous thrombolysis is beneficial in selected pregnant stroke patients. Pregnancy should not be an absolute contraindication for thrombolysis therapy. This chapter aims to review only the current evaluation of intravenous thrombolytic therapy, one of the reperfusion therapies applied in the acute phase of stroke.

Reproducibility of cerebrovascular reactivity measurements: A systematic review of neuroimaging techniques*

Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), the capacity of the brain to increase cerebral blood flow (CBF) to meet changes in physiological demand, is an important biomarker to evaluate brain health. Typically, this brain “stress test” is performed by using a medical imaging modality to measure the CBF change between two states: at baseline and after vasodilation. However, since there are many imaging modalities and many ways to augment CBF, a wide range of CVR values have been reported. An understanding of CVR reproducibility is critical to determine the most reliable methods to measure CVR as a clinical biomarker. This review focuses on CVR reproducibility studies using neuroimaging techniques in 32 articles comprising 427 total subjects. The literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, and Scopus. The review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). We identified 5 factors of the experimental subjects (such as sex, blood characteristics, and smoking) and 9 factors of the measuring technique (such as the imaging modality, the type of the vasodilator, and the quantification method) that have strong effects on CVR reproducibility. Based on this review, we recommend several best practices to improve the reproducibility of CVR quantification in neuroimaging studies.