Mycotic aneurysm of the left subclavian artery: CT findings.

Mycotic aneurysms caused by aspergillosis are rare. We report a nine-year-old girl with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who had invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and subsequently developed a left subclavian artery aneurysm. Prior to the aneurysm, computed tomography (CT) of the chest showed a nodule with an air crescent in the left upper lobe, adhering to the mediastinum and the left subclavian artery. The left subclavian artery was ill-defined and had a small lumen, and it was embedded in the wall of the nodule. 37 days after the chest CT, the patient underwent a left thoracotomy because of massive haemoptysis, at which time a false aneurysm in the left subclavian artery was found. Plication of the aneurysm was performed. On a follow-up CT with multiplanar reconstruction six days after surgery, there were the plicated aneurysm and a small amount of pleural effusion in the upper portion of the left hemithorax, adjacent to the plication. In invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, it is important to be aware of the possibility of mycotic aneurysms, particularly in patients with pulmonary lesions adjacent to mediastinal vessels with ill-defined borders and small lumens, since the aneurysms may increase in size and rupture. CT, particularly multidetector CT, helps in visualisation of mycotic aneurysms.

Echo-planar functional MR imaging of epilepsy with concurrent EEG monitoring.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The role of functional MR (fMR) imaging in the evaluation of patients with epilepsy has not been systematically studied. Our purpose was to identify the fMR correlates of interictal epileptiform discharges. METHODS: Twenty patients with epilepsy and frequent interictal discharges were studied with concurrent EEG monitoring on a 1.5-T echo-planar magnet to acquire blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) images in the baseline (OFF) and immediate post-discharge (ON) states. Analysis was performed using subtraction of average ON and OFF data (method I); cross-correlation analysis between the ON and OFF states (method II); and individual spike analysis (ISA), with which signal intensity in the individual ON states was statistically analyzed using a weighted comparison with the mean and variance of the OFF states (method III). Agreement of fMR activation with EEG localization was determined. RESULTS: Eighteen of 20 patients had interictal discharges during the monitoring period. Method I yielded visually detectable sites of BOLD signal differences in only one patient. Method II resulted in two patients with sites of BOLD activation. Method III, ISA, resulted in regions of increased BOLD signal corresponding to the EEG focus in nine of 10 patients. CONCLUSION: fMR studies can often reveal sites of increased BOLD signal that correspond to sites of interictal EEG discharge activity. Because of variable intensity changes associated with discharge activity, ISA resulted in increased sensitivity.