Acute diffuse cerebral vasospasm as a complication of endoscopic resection of a colloid cyst: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic resection can be used for removing colloid cysts as a substitute for open craniotomy. Cerebral vasospasm, a possible complication of the craniotomy procedure, has not been reported as a complication of endoscopic removal of colloid cysts. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 58-year-old man developed the worst headache of his life. The CT and MRI showed a 1.3 cm midline third ventricular cyst at the level of the foramen of Monro, consistent with a colloid cyst. The patient elected to undergo an endoscopic resection of the colloid cyst. The image-guided frameless stereotactic endoscopic colloid cyst resection proceeded without events. Postoperative MRI showed a gross total resection. The patient continued to improve until post-operative day #9 when he experienced an episode of slurred speech and several episodes of legs buckling. An MRI did not show a stroke. A CT angiogram showed diffuse vasospasm, including the basilar artery and bilateral middle cerebral arteries, when compared to the patient's preoperative MRA. The patient's antihypertensive medications were stopped. The patient was started on Nimodipine, 60 mg every 4 hours, and triple H therapy (Hypertension, Hypervolemia, and Hemodilution) was applied. His blood pressure rose and his neurologic exam improved over several days. The patient returned to his baseline in 14 days without any neurological deficits. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of a patient undergoing endoscopic colloid cyst resection that was complicated by diffuse cerebral vasospasm. CONCLUSIONS: We report the first case of acute, transient cerebral vasospasm following endoscopic resection of a colloid cyst.

Microvascular decompression of a C-2 segmental-type vertebral artery producing trigeminal hypesthesia.

The authors report a case of trigeminal hypesthesia caused by compression of the spinal cord by a C-2 segmental-type vertebral artery (VA) that was successfully treated with microvascular decompression. Aberrant intradural VA loops have been reported as causes of cervical myelopathy, some of which improved with microvascular decompression. A 52-year-old man presented with progressive complaints of headache, dizziness, left facial numbness, and left upper-extremity paresthesia that worsened when turning his head to the right. Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical spine showed the left VA passing intradurally between the axis and atlas, foregoing the C-1 foramen transversarium, and impinging on the spinal cord. The patient underwent left C-1 and C-2 hemilaminectomies followed by microvascular decompression of an aberrant VA loop compressing the spinal cord. The patient subsequently reported complete resolution of symptoms.

Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging of spinal cord injury in mouse: changes in signal patterns associated with the inflammatory response.

Contusion-type spinal cord injury (SCI) in mice was followed longitudinally using in vivo magnetic resonance (MR) imaging along with neurobehavioral tests performed on postinjury Days 1, 7, 14 and 28. Magnetic resonance images were acquired from seven injured wild-type mice using a 9.4-T scanner and presented in sagittal and axial views to reflect the current state of the injured cord neuropathology on each day. The data were analyzed individually to gain more insights on the neuroinflammatory response unique to the mouse, to characterize the spatiotemporal evolution of the lesion and to quantify the changes in lesion volume and length with time. The MR intensity patterns on Day 1 showed acute injuries as focal in one group of three mice and as diffuse in the remaining group of four mice. The focal injuries appeared as a region of hypointensity with well-defined boundaries. These injuries first enlarged on Day 7, but then shrunk slightly by Days 14 and 28. In contrast, the diffuse injuries were initially obscure on Day 1, mainly because of loss of contrast between gray and white matters. On Day 7, lesions expanded asymptotically in both rostral and caudal directions with respect to the epicenter, and maintained its size on Days 14 and 28. Previous studies based on postmortem histological analysis have reported lesions behaving more like in the focal group. However, this new injury with diffuse characteristics may have important implications for SCI research carried out with mice. Unique experiments on genetically engineered mice with altered neuroinflammatory response should help clarify the origin of these differences in the lesion formation.

Exercise training improves cardiac performance in diabetes: in vivo demonstration with quantitative cine-MRI analyses.

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a distinct myocardial complication of the catabolic state of untreated insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat. Exercise training has long been utilized as an effective adjunct to pharmacotherapy in the management of the diabetic heart. However, the in vivo functional benefit(s) of the training programs on cardiac cycle events in diabetes are poorly understood. In this study, we used three groups of Sprague-Dawley rats (sedentary control, sedentary diabetic, and exercised diabetic) to assess the effects of endurance training on the left ventricular (LV) cardiac cycle events in diabetes. At the end of 9 wk of exercise training, noninvasive cardiac functional evaluation was performed by using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (9.4 T). An ECG-gated cine imaging protocol was used to capture the LV cardiac cycle events through 10 equally incremented phases. The cardiac cycle phase volumetric profiles showed favorable functional changes in exercised diabetic group, including a prevention of decreased end-diastolic volume and attenuation of increased end-systolic volume that accompanies sedentary diabetes. The defects in LV systolic flow velocity, acceleration, and jerk associated with sedentary diabetes were restored toward control levels in the trained diabetic animals. This magnetic resonance imaging study confirms the prevailing evidence from earlier in vitro and in vivo invasive procedures that exercise training benefits cardiac function in this model of diabetic cardiomyopathy despite the extreme catabolic state of the animals.

A mouse model of sensorimotor controlled cortical impact: characterization using longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging, behavioral assessments and histology.

The present study establishes a new mouse model for traumatic brain injury (TBI), using an electromechanically driven linear motor impactor device to deliver a lateral controlled cortical impact (CCI) injury to the sensorimotor cortex. Lesion cavity size was measured, and inter-animal consistency demonstrated, at 14 days post injury. Qualitative information regarding damage progression over time was obtained by scanning with high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at five time points following injury. Functional impairment and recovery were measured with the Rotarod, gridwalk and cylinder tests, and lesion cavity volume was measured post mortem with thionin-stained tissue sections. The study establishes the reliability of a linear-motor based device for producing repeatable damage in a CCI model, demonstrates the power of longitudinal MRI in studying damage evolution, and confirms that a simple battery of functional tests record sensorimotor impairment and recovery.

Sympathetic hyperinnervation and inflammatory cell NGF synthesis following myocardial infarction in rats.

Sympathetic hyperinnervation occurs in human ventricular tissue after myocardial infarction and may contribute to arrhythmias. Aberrant sympathetic sprouting is associated with elevated nerve growth factor (NGF) in many contexts, including ventricular hyperinnervation. However, it is unclear whether cardiomyocytes or other cell types are responsible for increased NGF synthesis. In this study, left coronary arteries were ligated and ventricular tissue examined in rats 1-28 days post-infarction. Infarct and peri-infarct tissue was essentially devoid of sensory and parasympathetic nerves at all time points. However, areas of increased sympathetic nerve density were observed in the peri-infarct zone between post-ligation days 4-14. Hyperinnervation occurred in regions containing accumulations of macrophages and myofibroblasts. To assess whether these inflammatory cells synthesize NGF, sections were processed for NGF in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Both macrophage1 antigen-positive macrophages and alpha-smooth muscle actin-immunoreactive myofibroblasts expressed NGF in areas where they were closely proximate to sympathetic nerves. To investigate whether NGF produced by peri-infarct cells induces sympathetic outgrowth, we co-cultured adult sympathetic ganglia with peri-infarct explants. Neurite outgrowth from sympathetic ganglia was significantly greater at post-ligation days 7-14 as compared to control tissue. Addition of an NGF function-blocking antibody prevented the increased neurite outgrowth induced by peri-infarct tissue. These findings provide evidence that inflammatory cell NGF synthesis plays a causal role in sympathetic hyperinnervation following myocardial infarction.

Cardiac dysfunction in the diabetic rat: quantitative evaluation using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease. In particular, type 1 diabetes compromises the cardiac function of individuals at a relatively early age due to the protracted course of abnormal glucose homeostasis. The functional abnormalities of diabetic myocardium have been attributed to the pathological changes of diabetic cardiomyopathy. METHODS: In this study, we used high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate the left ventricular functional characteristics of streptozotocin treated diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats (8 weeks disease duration) in comparison with age/sex matched controls. RESULTS: Our analyses of EKG gated cardiac MRI scans of the left ventricle showed a 28% decrease in the end-diastolic volume and 10% increase in the end-systolic volume of diabetic hearts compared to controls. Mean stroke volume and ejection fraction in diabetic rats were decreased (48% and 28%, respectively) compared to controls. Further, dV/dt changes were suggestive of phase sensitive differences in left ventricular kinetics across the cardiac cycle between diabetic and control rats. CONCLUSION: Thus, the MRI analyses of diabetic left ventricle suggest impairment of diastolic and systolic hemodynamics in this rat model of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Our studies also show that in vivo MRI could be used in the evaluation of cardiac dysfunction in this rat model of type 1 diabetes.

Electrical stimulation of cortex improves corticospinal tract tracing in rat spinal cord using manganese-enhanced MRI.

Following bilateral injection of manganese (Mn) into the rat's motor cortex, electrical stimulation of the cortex is shown to increase the transport, uptake and accumulation of Mn in the corticospinal tract (CST), as assessed by manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEI). T(1)-weighted gradient echo images were acquired in 3-D and displayed in different orientations to anatomically delineate the CST pathway from cortex to spinal cord (SC) at the thoracic level. T(1)-maps of the SC were produced from spin-echo based image data to demonstrate the distribution of the T(1) properties of the SC tissue and to quantitatively assess the T(1)-change occurring in the CST due to the presence of Mn therein. Implications for improving the tract tracing ability with the proposed in vivo approach and its application to spinal cord injury (SCI) research are discussed in terms of aiding future experimental investigations of neuroplasticity following an injury.

Characterization of alterations in diabetic myocardial tissue using high resolution MRI.

Cardiovascular complications, including diabetic cardiomyopathy, are the major cause of fatalities in diabetes. Diabetic cardiomyopathy is expressed in part through fibrosis and left ventricular hypertrophy, increasing myocardial stiffness leading to heart failure. In order to search for curative interventions, precise evaluation of the diabetic heart pathology is extremely important. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is ideally suited for the assessment of heart disorders due to its high resolution, three-dimensional properties and dimensional accuracy. In this study streptozotocin injected Sprague-Dawley rats were used as a model of type 1 diabetes to characterize abnormalities in the diabetic left ventricle (LV). High resolution MRI using a 9.4 T horizontal bore scanner was performed on control and 7 weeks diabetic rats. In the diabetic rats as compared to controls, we found increased LV wall volume to body weight ratio, suggestive of LV hypertrophy; increased LV wall mean pixel intensity, and decreased T2 relaxation time, both suggestive of changes in the diabetic tissue properties, perhaps due to presence of fibrosis which was detected through increase in the collagen fractional area. In addition, changes in the LV cavity area were observed and quantified in post-mortem diabetic hearts indicative of stiffer and less resilient LV myocardial tissue with diabetes. Together the data suggest that LV hypertrophy and fibrosis may be a major factor underlying structural and functional abnormalities in the diabetic heart, and MRI is a valuable tool to non-invasively monitor the pathological changes in diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Magnetic resonance imaging of mouse spinal cord.

The feasibility of performing high-resolution in vivo MRI on mouse spinal cord (SC) at 9.4 T magnetic field strength is demonstrated. The MR properties of the cord tissue were measured and the characteristics of water diffusion in the SC were quantified. The data indicate that the differences in the proton density (PD) and transverse relaxation time between gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) dominate the contrast seen on the mouse SC images at 9.4 T. However, on heavily T(2)-weighted images these differences result in a reversal of contrast. The diffusion of water in the cord is anisotropic, but the WM exhibits greater anisotropy and principal diffusivity than the GM. The quantitative data presented here should establish a standard for comparing similar measurements obtained from the SCs of genetically engineered mouse or mouse models of SC injury (SCI).

Manganese-enhanced MRI of rat spinal cord injury.

The potential of the manganese-enhanced MRI (MEI) technique in labeling the intact neuronal circuitry of rat spinal cord was examined. Experiments were conducted on normal and injured cords at 9.4-T magnetic field strength using an implantable rf coil. The contrast agent manganese (Mn) was locally delivered within the parenchyma at a dose of 25 mmol/L in 10 nL. The transport, uptake and accumulation of Mn in tissue were then followed remotely on T1-weighted images that were acquired serially from the cord. In MEIs of normal cord, Mn was observed to be transported in directions both rostral and caudal to the site of injection. In the cord that was subjected to hemisection, signal enhancement was on the contralesional side of the cord, but not at the ipsilesional side. The sensitivity and specificity of the MEI technique in labeling the neurons that are functional were also validated with a traditional track-tracing method using biotinylated dextran amine.

Ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging of rat spinal cord at 9.4 T.

The magnetic resonance (MR) properties of the rat spinal cord were characterized at the T9 level with ex vivo experiments performed at 9.4 T. The inherent endogenous contrast parameters, proton density (PD), longitudinal and transverse relaxation times T1 and T2, and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) were measured separately for the grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM). Analysis of the measurements indicated that these tissues have statistically different proton densities with means PD(GM)=54.8+/-2.5% versus PD(WM)=45.2+/-2.4%, and different T1 values with means T1GM=2.28+/-0.23 s versus T1WM=1.97+/-0.21 s. The corresponding values for T2 were T2GM=31.8+/-4.9 ms versus T2WM=29.5+/-4.9 ms, and the difference was insignificant. The difference between MTR(GM)=31.2+/-6.1% and MTR(WM)=33.1+/-5.9% was also insignificant. These results collectively suggest that PD and T1 are the two most important parameters that determine the observed contrast on spinal cord images acquired at 9.4 T. Therefore, in MR imaging studies of spinal cord at this field strength, these parameters need to be considered not only in optimizing the protocols but also in signal enhancement strategies involving exogenous contrast agents.

Magnetic resonance angiography of rat spinal cord at 9.4 T: a feasibility study.

In this study we investigated the feasibility of performing 3D time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography to remotely image the arteries of rat spinal cord. Using a custom-designed implantable radiofrequency coil, we acquired angiograms from normal and injured cords. The potential of the approach was evaluated in terms of longitudinally monitoring the vascular reorganization of spinal cord following an injury.

Microneurography of human median nerve.

PURPOSE: To examine the possibility of performing high-resolution MRI (microneurography) on peripheral nerves. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A specific radio frequency (RF) coil was developed to probe the human median nerve at a magnetic field strength of 9.4 T and tested on three excised samples by acquiring microneurograms. RESULTS: The microneurograms revealed neuronal tissue constituents at subfascicular level. The contrast features on proton-density and T1- and T2-weighted images were described and compared. The microscopic water movement was quantified using diffusion weighting parallel and orthogonal to the neuronal fiber orientation. The characteristics of anisotropic diffusion in the median nerve were comparable to those reported from other biological tissues (white matter and kidney). CONCLUSION: The results overall suggest that microneurography might provide new noninvasive insights into microscopic gross anatomy of the peripheral nerve, injury evaluation, and efficacy of repair, although the feasibility at current clinically relevant field strengths is yet to be determined.