CT protocol for acute stroke: tips and tricks for general radiologists.

Acute stroke services have been installed in most hospitals in the industrialized world, and dealing with hyperacute stroke has become one of the most frequently performed tasks of the on-call radiologist. Imaging plays a key role in current guidelines for thrombolysis, and knowledge of classic early ischemic signs or depiction of hemorrhage at nonenhanced computed tomography (CT) is necessary (although not sufficient) for a satisfactory imaging study. A modern CT examination must also include perfusion CT and CT angiography. Perfusion CT delineates the ischemic tissue (penumbra) by showing increased mean transit time with decreased cerebral blood flow (CBF) and normal or increased cerebral blood volume (CBV), whereas infarcted tissue manifests with markedly decreased CBF and decreased CBV. CT angiography can depict the occlusion site, help grade collateral blood flow, and help characterize carotid atherosclerotic disease. A complete CT study (nonenhanced CT, perfusion CT, and CT angiography) may be performed and analyzed rapidly and easily by general radiologists using a simple standardized protocol and may even facilitate diagnosis by less experienced radiologists in affected patients.

Radiological aid to clinical diagnosis of Schnitzler's syndrome: multimodality imaging approach.

Schnitzler's syndrome is a rare combination of chronic urticaria, fever of unknown origin, disabling bone pain, and monoclonal gammopathy. We report a case with an unusual radiological manifestation as a solitary sclerotic lesion of the right iliac bone. Its main features on conventional radiography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging are described, and the main radiological differential diagnoses are discussed to help with the characterization of this syndrome, which requires a combination of clinical, laboratory, and radiological data. On the other hand, although our patient had an excellent clinical response to anakinra, the sclerotic lesion remained unchanged on follow-up X-ray examinations.