- Robust Perfusion Deficits in Cognitively Impaired Patients with Secondary-Progressive Multiple Sclerosis
These authors investigated the effect of perfusion deficits on patients with MS with cognitive impairment. In 45 patients with secondary-progressive MS, cognition was assessed using standardized clinical tests and CBF and CBV perfusion maps were obtained, analyzed, and correlated with gray and white matter and lesion volumes. Perfusion in the deep gray matter nuclei and frontal cortex was significantly reduced in cognitively impaired patients with MS despite no significant differences regarding gray matter, white matter, and lesion volumes. Of the cognitive parameters investigated, information processing speed was most affected.
- Factors Influencing Clinically Meaningful Recanalization after IV-rtPA in Acute Ischemic Stroke
Predictors of clinically meaningful recanalization were assessed in 126 patients with acute anterior circulation stroke treated with IV thrombolysis. End points were CT angiographic recanalization and good clinical outcome at 90 days. Clinically meaningful recanalization occurred in 29% of patients, who had fewer neurologic deficits and higher ASPECTS at baseline. Admission NIHSS score and site of arterial occlusion were significant predictors of meaningful recanalization. Specifically, mild baseline deficits and distal vessel occlusions were significant predictors of clinically meaningful recanalization. A combination of these was better than either parameter alone.
- Combined Diffusion and Perfusion MR Imaging as Biomarkers of Prognosis in Immunocompetent Patients with Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma
Here, the authors sought to determine if ADC values and perfusion measurements provided prognostic information in 25 treatment-naïve immunocompetent patients with brain lymphoma. The studied parameters were obtained from the enhancing tumor regions. The results of this investigation reinforce the validity of ADC values as a prognostic biomarker and provide evidence of low tumor CBV as a novel risk factor for adverse prognosis in immunocompetent patients with primary brain lymphoma.