Brain functional connectivity alterations associated with neuropsychological performance 6-9 months following SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Neuropsychological deficits and brain damage following SARS-CoV-2 infection are not well understood. Then, 116 patients, with either severe, moderate, or mild disease in the acute phase underwent neuropsychological and olfactory tests, as well as completed psychiatric and respiratory questionnaires at 223 ± 42 days postinfection. Additionally, a subgroup of 50 patients underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging. Patients in the severe group displayed poorer verbal episodic memory performances, and moderate patients had reduced mental flexibility. Neuroimaging revealed patterns of hypofunctional and hyperfunctional connectivities in severe patients, while only hyperconnectivity patterns were observed for moderate. The default mode, somatosensory, dorsal attention, subcortical, and cerebellar networks were implicated. Partial least squares correlations analysis confirmed specific association between memory, executive functions performances and brain functional connectivity. The severity of the infection in the acute phase is a predictor of neuropsychological performance 6-9 months following SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 infection causes long-term memory and executive dysfunctions, related to large-scale functional brain connectivity alterations.

Dual-Energy CT in Acute Stroke: Could Non-Contrast CT Be Replaced by Virtual Non-Contrast CT? A Feasibility Study.

Purpose: We aimed to evaluate whether virtual non-contrast cerebral computed tomography (VNCCT) reconstructed from intravenous contrast-enhanced dual-energy CT (iv-DECT) could replace non-contrast CT (NCCT) in patients with suspected acute cerebral ischemia. Method: This retrospective study included all consecutive patients in whom NCCT followed by iv-DECT were performed for suspected acute ischemia in our emergency department over a 1-month period. The Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) was used to determine signs of acute ischemia in the anterior and posterior circulation, the presence of hemorrhage, and alternative findings, which were randomly evaluated via the consensus reading of NCCT and VNCCT by two readers blinded to the final diagnosis. An intraclass correlation between VNCCT and NCCT was calculated for the ASPECTS values. Both techniques were evaluated for their ability to detect ischemic lesions (ASPECTS <10) when compared with the final discharge diagnosis (reference standard). Results: Overall, 148 patients (80 men, mean age 64 years) were included, of whom 46 (30%) presented with acute ischemia, 6 (4%) presented with intracerebral hemorrhage, 11 (7%) had an alternative diagnosis, and 85 (59%) had no pathological findings. The intraclass correlation coefficients of the two modalities were 0.97 (0.96-0.98) for the anterior circulation and 0.77 (0.69-0.83) for the posterior circulation. The VNCCT's sensitivity for detecting acute ischemia was higher (41%, 19/46) than that of NCCT (33%, 15/46). Specificity was similar between the two techniques, at 94% (97/103) and 98% (101/103), respectively. Conclusions: Our results show that VNCCT achieved a similar diagnostic performance as NCCT and could, thus, replace NCCT in assessing patients with suspected acute cerebral ischemia.

Specificity of Quantitative Functional Brain Mapping with Arterial Spin-Labeling for Preoperative Assessment.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Arterial spin-labeling is a noninvasive MR imaging technique allowing direct and quantitative measurement of brain perfusion. Arterial spin-labeling is well-established in clinics for investigating the overall cerebral perfusion, but it is still occasionally employed during tasks. The typical contrast for functional MR imaging is blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) imaging, whose specificity could be biased in neurologic patients due to altered neurovascular coupling. This work aimed to validate the use of functional ASL as a noninvasive tool for presurgical functional brain mapping. This is achieved by comparing the spatial accuracy of functional ASL with transcranial magnetic stimulation as the criterion standard. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight healthy participants executed a motor task and received a somatosensory stimulation, while BOLD imaging and arterial spin-labeling were acquired simultaneously. Transcranial magnetic stimulation was subsequently used to define hand somatotopy. RESULTS: Functional ASL was found more adjacent to transcranial magnetic stimulation than BOLD imaging, with a significant shift along the inferior-to-superior direction. With respect to BOLD imaging, functional ASL was localized significantly more laterally, anteriorly, and inferiorly during motor tasks and pneumatic stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm the specificity of functional ASL in targeting the regional neuronal excitability. Functional ASL could be considered as a valid supplementary technique to BOLD imaging for presurgical mapping when spatial accuracy is crucial for delineating eloquent cortex.

Accuracy of a novel risk index combining degree of stenosis of the carotid artery and plaque surface echogenicity.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of a risk index in symptomatic or asymptomatic carotid stenoses. METHODS: Consecutive patients presenting 50% to 99% carotid stenoses were included. A semiautomated gray scale-based color mapping (red, yellow, and green) of the whole plaque and of its surface was achieved. Surface was defined as the region located between the lumen (Level 0) and, respectively, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mm. Risk index was based on a combination of degree of stenosis and the proportion of the red color (reflecting low echogenicity) on the surface or on the whole plaque. RESULTS: There were 67 (36%) symptomatic and 117 (64%) asymptomatic carotid stenoses. Risk index values were higher among symptomatic stenoses (0.46 mean versus 0.29; P<0.0001); on receiver operating characteristic curves, risk index presented a stronger predictive power compared with degree of stenosis or surface echogenicity alone. Also, in a regression model including age, gender, degree of stenosis, surface echogenicity, gray median scale of the whole plaque, and risk index, risk index measured within the surface region located at 0.5 mm from the lumen was the only parameter significantly associated with the presence of symptoms (OR, 4.89; 95% CI, 2.7-8.7; P=0.0000002). The best criterion to differentiate between symptomatic and asymptomatic stenoses was a risk index value >0.36 (sensitivity and specificity of 78% and 65%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Risk index was significantly higher in the presence of symptoms and could therefore be a valuable tool to assess the clinical risk of a carotid plaque.

Carotid plaque surface echogenicity predicts cerebrovascular events: An Echographic Multicentric Swiss Study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To determine the prognostic value for ischemic stroke or transitory ischemic attack (TIA) of plaque surface echogenicity alone or combined to degree of stenosis in a Swiss multicenter cohort METHODS: Patients with ≥60% asymptomatic or ≥50% symptomatic carotid stenosis were included. Grey-scale based colour mapping was obtained of the whole plaque and of its surface defined as the regions between the lumen and respectively 0-0.5, 0-1, 0-1.5, and 0-2 mm of the outer border of the plaque. Red, yellow and green colour represented low, intermediate or high echogenicity. Proportion of red color on surface (PRCS) reflecting low echogenictiy was considered alone or combined to degree of stenosis (Risk index, RI). RESULTS: We included 205 asymptomatic and 54 symptomatic patients. During follow-up (median/mean 24/27.7 months) 27 patients experienced stroke or TIA. In the asymptomatic group, RI ≥0.25 and PRCS ≥79% predicted stroke or TIA with a hazard ratio (HR) of respectively 8.7 p = 0.0001 and 10.2 p < 0.0001. In the symptomatic group RI ≥0.25 and PRCS ≥81% predicted stroke or TIA occurrence with a HR of respectively 6.1 p = 0.006 and 8.9 p = 0.001. The best surface parameter was located at 0-0.5mm. Among variables including age, sex, degree of stenosis, stenosis progression, RI, PRCS, grey median scale values and clinical baseline status, only PRCS independently prognosticated stroke (p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: In this pilot study including patients with at least moderate degree of carotid stenosis, PRCS (0-0.5mm) alone or combined to degree of stenosis strongly predicted occurrence of subsequent cerebrovascular events.

Intracranial Aneurysm Classifier Using Phenotypic Factors: An International Pooled Analysis.

Intracranial aneurysms (IAs) are usually asymptomatic with a low risk of rupture, but consequences of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) are severe. Identifying IAs at risk of rupture has important clinical and socio-economic consequences. The goal of this study was to assess the effect of patient and IA characteristics on the likelihood of IA being diagnosed incidentally versus ruptured. Patients were recruited at 21 international centers. Seven phenotypic patient characteristics and three IA characteristics were recorded. The analyzed cohort included 7992 patients. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that: (1) IA location is the strongest factor associated with IA rupture status at diagnosis; (2) Risk factor awareness (hypertension, smoking) increases the likelihood of being diagnosed with unruptured IA; (3) Patients with ruptured IAs in high-risk locations tend to be older, and their IAs are smaller; (4) Smokers with ruptured IAs tend to be younger, and their IAs are larger; (5) Female patients with ruptured IAs tend to be older, and their IAs are smaller; (6) IA size and age at rupture correlate. The assessment of associations regarding patient and IA characteristics with IA rupture allows us to refine IA disease models and provide data to develop risk instruments for clinicians to support personalized decision-making.

Cerebral microhemorrhage and iron deposition in mild cognitive impairment: susceptibility-weighted MR imaging assessment.

PURPOSE: To test whether susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging at baseline may help predict cognitive decline. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board, and written informed consent was obtained from all participants. Thirty-five healthy control subjects and 69 patients with mild cognitive impairment were included. Patients with mild cognitive impairment underwent neuropsychologic follow-up after 1 year (40 patients with stable mild cognitive impairment, 27 with progressive mild cognitive impairment, and two lost to follow-up). Cerebral microhemorrhages were visually analyzed by two experienced neuroradiologists in consensus. Iron deposition in deep gray matter was assessed with voxel-wise and region-of-interest analysis after nonlinear spatial registration. In addition, individual classification of mild cognitive impairment was analyzed by using a support vector machine (SVM). RESULTS: At baseline, the number of cerebral microhemorrhages was significantly higher in the mild cognitive impairment group than in the control group (P < .01) but did not differ between the patients with stable and those with progressive mild cognitive impairment. Compared with the control group, patients with mild cognitive impairment had increased iron concentration in the right pallidum (P < .01) and right substantia nigra (P < .01) but decreased concentration in the right red nucleus (P < .05). The classification based on the SVM successfully helped discriminate patients with mild cognitive impairment from the healthy control subjects (accuracy, 84%; sensitivity, 89%; specificity, 85%) and those with stable from those with progressive mild cognitive impairment (accuracy, 85%; sensitivity, 84%; specificity, 83%). CONCLUSION: The findings reveal an accumulation of cerebral microhemorrhage in patients with mild cognitive impairment that is present at baseline, independent of subsequent cognitive decline, as well as an altered iron distribution in subcortical nuclei between the healthy control subjects and patients with mild cognitive impairment. Analysis of iron deposition at baseline performed with an SVM might help identify individual patients with mild cognitive impairment at risk for cognitive decline. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: http://radiology.rsna.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1148/radiol.10100612/-/DC1.

Hemodynamics of Focal Versus Global Growth of Small Cerebral Aneurysms.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hemodynamics play a driving role in the life cycle of brain aneurysms from initiation through growth until eventual rupture. The specific factors behind aneurysm growth, especially in small aneurysms, are not well elucidated. The goal of this study was to differentiate focal versus general growth and to analyze the hemodynamic microenvironment at the sites of enlargement in small cerebral aneurysms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Small aneurysms showing growth during follow-up were identified from our prospective aneurysm database. Three dimensional rotational angiography (3DRA) studies before and after morphology changes were available for all aneurysms included in the study, allowing for detailed shape and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) based hemodynamic analysis. Six patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: Two different types of change were observed: focal growth, with bleb or blister formation in three, and global aneurysm enlargement accompanied by neck broadening in other three patients. Areas of focal growth showed low shear conditions with increased oscillations at the site of growth (a low wall shear stress [WSS] and high oscillatory shear index [OSI]). Global aneurysm enlargement was associated with increased WSS coupled with a high spatial wall shear stress gradient (WSSG). CONCLUSION: For different aneurysm growth types, distinctive hemodynamic microenvironment may be responsible and temporal-spatial changes of the pathologic WSS would have the inciting effect. We suggest the distinction of focal and global growth types in future hemodynamic and histological studies.

Late recurrence of pineal germinoma.

BACKGROUND: Cerebral germinomas and their occasional recurrences can usually be cured by irradiation, chemotherapy, or a combination of the two treatment modalities. Late recurrences, as in our case, are distinctly rare. CASE DESCRIPTION: This patient presented at age 24 with a calcified tumor in the pineal area. The radiological diagnosis was germinoma. No tissue diagnosis was obtained. Radiation therapy was given, and there was a complete response. The patient's symptoms reappeared 13 years later. Imaging studies revealed a lesion in the anterior corpus callosum. A germinoma was diagnosed by stereotactic biopsy. Because of complications attributed to the initial course of radiation therapy, no further radiation was given. Five courses of chemotherapy resulted in a partial remission lasting six months. The patient later died because of massive tumor progression with intracerebral, intraventricular, cerebellar, and meningeal dissemination. CONCLUSIONS: As this case illustrates, exceptional recurrences of cerebral germinomas may appear even many years after adequate initial treatment with radiation and chemotherapy.

Principles of classification analyses in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer disease.

The majority of advanced neuroimaging studies implement group level analyses contrasting a group of patients versus a group of controls, or two groups of patients. Such analyses may identify for example changes in grey matter in specific regions associated with a given disease. Although such group investigations provided key contributions to the understanding of the pathological process surrounding a wide range of diseases, they are of limited utility at an individual level. Recently, there is a trend towards individual classification analyses, representing a fundamental shift of the research paradigm. In contrast to group comparisons, these latter studies do not provide insights on vulnerable brain areas but may allow for an early (and ideally preclinical) identification of at risk individuals in routine clinical setting. One currently very popular method in this domain are support vector machines (SVM), yet this method is only one of many available methods in the field of individual classification analyses. The current manuscript reviews the fundamental properties and features of such individual level classification analyses in neurodegenerative diseases.

Multiple coaxial catheter system for reliable access in interventional stroke therapy.

In some patients with acute cerebral vessel occlusion, navigating mechanical thrombectomy systems is difficult due to tortuous anatomy of the aortic arch, carotid arteries, or vertebral arteries. Our purpose was to describe a multiple coaxial catheter system used for mechanical revascularization that helps navigation and manipulations in tortuous vessels. A triple or quadruple coaxial catheter system was built in 28 consecutive cases presenting with acute ischemic stroke. All cases were treated by mechanical thrombectomy with the Penumbra System. In cases of unsuccessful thrombo-aspiration, additional thrombolysis or angioplasty with stent placement was used for improving recanalization. The catheter system consisted of an outermost 8-Fr and an intermediate 6-Fr guiding catheter, containing the inner Penumbra reperfusion catheters. The largest, 4.1-Fr, reperfusion catheter was navigated over a Prowler Select Plus microcatheter. The catheter system provided access to reach the cerebral lesions and provided stability for the mechanically demanding manipulations of thromboaspiration and stent navigation in all cases. Apart from their mechanical role, the specific parts of the system could also provide access to different types of interventions, like carotid stenting through the 8-Fr guiding catheter and intracranial stenting and thrombolysis through the Prowler Select Plus microcatheter. In this series, there were no complications related to the catheter system. In conclusion, building up a triple or quadruple coaxial system proved to be safe and efficient in our experience for the mechanical thrombectomy treatment of acute ischemic stroke.

Individual prediction of cognitive decline in mild cognitive impairment using support vector machine-based analysis of diffusion tensor imaging data.

Although cross-sectional diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies revealed significant white matter changes in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the utility of this technique in predicting further cognitive decline is debated. Thirty-five healthy controls (HC) and 67 MCI subjects with DTI baseline data were neuropsychologically assessed at one year. Among them, there were 40 stable (sMCI; 9 single domain amnestic, 7 single domain frontal, 24 multiple domain) and 27 were progressive (pMCI; 7 single domain amnestic, 4 single domain frontal, 16 multiple domain). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and longitudinal, radial, and mean diffusivity were measured using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics. Statistics included group comparisons and individual classification of MCI cases using support vector machines (SVM). FA was significantly higher in HC compared to MCI in a distributed network including the ventral part of the corpus callosum, right temporal and frontal pathways. There were no significant group-level differences between sMCI versus pMCI or between MCI subtypes after correction for multiple comparisons. However, SVM analysis allowed for an individual classification with accuracies up to 91.4% (HC versus MCI) and 98.4% (sMCI versus pMCI). When considering the MCI subgroups separately, the minimum SVM classification accuracy for stable versus progressive cognitive decline was 97.5% in the multiple domain MCI group. SVM analysis of DTI data provided highly accurate individual classification of stable versus progressive MCI regardless of MCI subtype, indicating that this method may become an easily applicable tool for early individual detection of MCI subjects evolving to dementia.

Percutaneous vertebroplasty: preliminary experiences with rotational acquisitions and 3D reconstructions for therapy control.

Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) is carried out under fluoroscopic control in most centers. The exclusion of implant leakage and the assessment of implant distribution might be difficult to assess based on two-dimensional radiographic projection images only. We evaluated the feasibility of performing a follow-up examination after PVP with rotational acquisitions and volumetric reconstructions in the angio suite. Twenty consecutive patients underwent standard PVP procedures under fluoroscopic control. Immediate postprocedure evaluation of the implant distribution in the angio suite (BV 3000; Philips, The Netherlands) was performed using rotational acquisitions (typical parameters for the image acquisition included a 17-cm field-of-view, 200 acquired images for a total angular range of 180 degrees ). Postprocessing of acquired volumetric datasets included multiplanar reconstruction (MPR), maximum intensity projection (MIP), and volume rendering technique (VRT) images that were displayed as two-dimensional slabs or as entire three-dimensional volumes. Image evaluation included lesion and implant assessment with special attention given to implant leakage. Findings from rotational acquisitions were compared to findings from postinterventional CT. The time to perform and to postprocess the rotational acquisitions was in all cases less then 10 min. Assessment of implant distribution after PVP using rotational image acquisition methods and volumetric reconstructions was possible in all patients. Cement distribution and potential leakage sites were visualized best on MIP images presented as slabs. From a total of 33 detected leakages with CT, 30 could be correctly detected by rotational image acquisition. Rotational image acquisitions and volumetric reconstruction methods provided a fast method to control radiographically the result of PVP in our cases.

Rheological changes after stenting of a cerebral aneurysm: a finite element modeling approach.

Hemodynamic changes in intracranial aneurysms after stent placement include the appearance of areas with stagnant flow and low shear rates. We investigated the influence of stent placement on blood flow velocity and wall shear stress of an intracranial aneurysm using a finite element modeling approach. To assess viscosity changes induced by stent placement, the rheology of blood as non-Newtonian fluid was taken into account in this model. A two-dimensional model with a parent artery, a smaller branching artery, and an aneurysm located at the bifurcation, before and after stent placement, was used for simulation. Flow velocity plots and wall shear stress before and after stent placement was calculated over the entire cardiac circle. Values for dynamic viscosity were calculated with a constitutive equation that was based on experimental studies and yielded a viscosity, which decreases as the shear rate increases. Stent placement lowered peak velocities in the main vortex of the aneurysm by a factor of at least 4 compared to peak velocities in the main artery, and it considerably decreased the wall shear stress of the aneurysm. Dynamic viscosity increases after stent placement persisted over a major part of the cardiac cycle, with a factor of up to 10, most pronounced near the dome of the aneurysm. Finite element modeling can offer insight into rheological changes induced by stent treatment of aneurysms and allows visualizing dynamic viscosity changes induced by stent placement.

Pelvic osteoplasty in osteolytic metastases: technical approach under fluoroscopic guidance and early clinical results.

PURPOSE: To describe a new fluoroscopically guided technique for osteoplasty (or cementoplasty) of the superior and inferior pubic rami and ischial tuberosities and to provide information about the access routes and initial results on pain management after this technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-three lytic metastases of the superior and inferior pubic rami and ischial tuberosities were treated in 14 consecutive patients. Percutaneous access of the bones was performed under fluoroscopy. All patients had pain refractory to radiation and narcotic therapy and were unsuitable candidates for surgery according to multidisciplinary consensus. RESULTS: Technical success was achieved in all cases. Clinically, effective pain relief was obtained in 92% of patients. One intraarticular asymptomatic minor complication and one major complication resulting from leakage near the pudendal nerve were observed. The latter was subsequently treated by radiofrequency ablation. CONCLUSION: Pelvic osteoplasty appears to be a safe and highly effective palliative therapy for painful osteolytic malignant bone metastases.