Time-resolved contrast-enhanced MRA (TWIST) with gadofosveset trisodium in the classification of soft-tissue vascular anomalies in the head and neck in children following updated 2014 ISSVA classification: first report on systematic evaluation of MRI and TWIST in a cohort of 47 children.

AIM: To evaluate the relative accuracy of contrast-enhanced time-resolved angiography with interleaved stochastic trajectories versus conventional contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) following International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies updated 2014-based classification of soft-tissue vascular anomalies in the head and neck in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Time-resolved angiography with interleaved stochastic trajectories versus conventional contrast-enhanced MRI of children with diagnosis of soft-tissue vascular anomalies in the head and neck referred for MRI between 2008 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Forty-seven children (0-18 years) were evaluated. Two paediatric neuroradiologists evaluated time-resolved MRA and conventional MRI in two different sessions (30 days apart). Blood-pool endovascular MRI contrast agent gadofosveset trisodium was used. RESULTS: The present cohort had the following diagnoses: infantile haemangioma (n=6), venous malformation (VM; n=23), lymphatic malformation (LM; n=16), arteriovenous malformation (AVM; n=2). Time-resolved MRA alone accurately classified 38/47 (81%) and conventional MRI 42/47 (89%), respectively. Although time-resolved MRA alone is slightly superior to conventional MRI alone for diagnosis of infantile haemangioma, conventional MRI is slightly better for diagnosis of venous and LMs. Neither time-resolved MRA nor conventional MRI was sufficient for accurate diagnosis of AVM in this cohort. Conventional MRI combined with time-resolved MRA accurately classified 44/47 cases (94%). CONCLUSION: Time-resolved MRA using gadofosveset trisodium can accurately classify soft-tissue vascular anomalies in the head and neck in children. The addition of time-resolved MRA to existing conventional MRI protocols provides haemodynamic information, assisting the diagnosis of vascular anomalies in the paediatric population at one-third of the dose of other MRI contrast agents.

Carrier density dependence of plasmon-enhanced nonradiative energy transfer in a hybrid quantum well-quantum dot structure.

An array of Ag nanoboxes fabricated by helium-ion lithography is used to demonstrate plasmon-enhanced nonradiative energy transfer in a hybrid quantum well-quantum dot structure. The nonradiative energy transfer, from an InGaN/GaN quantum well to CdSe/ZnS nanocrystal quantum dots embedded in an ~80 nm layer of PMMA, is investigated over a range of carrier densities within the quantum well. The plasmon-enhanced energy transfer efficiency is found to be independent of the carrier density, with an efficiency of 25% reported. The dependence on carrier density is observed to be the same as for conventional nonradiative energy transfer. The plasmon-coupled energy transfer enhances the QD emission by 58%. However, due to photoluminescence quenching effects an overall increase in the QD emission of 16% is observed.