CCSVI Monthly October

As the nonsense arrives, whenever there is a contentious post on CCSVI, to keep some balance for those interested, we will go back to the last Saturday of the month with no comments taken. Make your own mind up and keep it to yourself.

Epub: Sati et al. FLAIR*: A Combined MR Contrast Technique for Visualizing White Matter Lesions and Parenchymal Veins. Radiology. 2012 Oct 16.

Purpose: To evaluate a magnetic resonance (MR) imaging contrast technique, called FLAIR*, that combines the advantages of T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) contrast and T2*-weighted contrast on a single image for assessment of white matter (WM) diseases such asmultiple sclerosis (MS).

Materials and Methods: This prospective pilot study was HIPAA compliant and institutional review board approved. Ten patients with clinically definite MS (eight men, two women; mean age, 41 years) provided informed consent and underwent 3.0-T MR imaging. Images from a T2-weighted FLAIR sequence were combined with images from a T2*-weighted segmented echo-planar imaging sequence performed during contrast material injection, yielding high-isotropic-resolution (0.55 × 0.55 × 0.55 mm(3)) FLAIR* images. Qualitative assessment was performed for image quality, lesion conspicuity, and vein conspicuity. Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was calculated to compare normal-appearing WM (NAWM) with cerebrospinal fluid, lesions, and veins. To evaluate the differences in CNR among imaging modalities, a bootstrap procedure clustered on subjects was used, together with paired t tests.

Results: High-quality FLAIR* images of the brain were produced at 3.0 T, yielding conspicuous lesions and veins. Lesion-to-NAWM and NAWM-to-vein CNR values were significantly higher for FLAIR* images than for T2-weighted FLAIR images (P < .0001). Findings on FLAIR* images included intralesional veins for lesions located throughout the brain and a hypointense rim around some WM lesions.

Conclusion: High-isotropic-resolution FLAIR* images obtained at 3.0 T yield high contrast for WM lesions and parenchymal veins, making it well suited to investigate the relationship between WM abnormalities and veins in a clinical setting

This may have interest for people in the vasculature!

Epub: Beggs et al. Cerebral venous outflow resistance and interpretation of cervical plethysmography data with respect to the diagnosis of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency. Phlebology. 2012 Oct 11.

OBJECTIVE: While chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) can be characterized using cervical plethysmography, much remains unknown about the haemodynamics associated with this procedure. The aim of the study was therefore to gain a deeper understanding of the observed haemodynamics.

METHOD: Forty healthy controls and 44 CCSVI patients underwent cervical plethysmography, which involved placing a strain-gauge collar around their necks and tipping them from the upright (90(o)) to supine position (0(o)) in a chair. Once stabilized, they were returned to the upright position, allowing blood to drain from the neck. A mathematical model was used to calculate the hydraulic resistance of the extracranial venous system for each subject in the study.

RESULTS: The mean hydraulic resistance of the extracranial venous system was 10.28 (standard deviation [SD] 5.14) mm Hg.s/mL in the healthy controls and 16.81 (SD 9.22) in the CCSVI patients (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: The haemodynamics of the extracranial venous system are greatly altered in CCSVI patients.

This suggests there are differences in the resistance of blood flow between healthy control verses CCSVIers. However, with the large deviations, there are CCSVIers that have levels that are found in healthy controls (10.28 + 5.14 = 15.42. 16.81-9.22 = 7.59 so you can see there is overlap).

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