Post-mortem Magnetic Resonance Imaging as an Additional Tool of the Neuropathological Examination of Neurodegenerative and Cerebrovascular Diseases

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques L De Reuck ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Cerebral Hemisphere ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Cerebrovascular Lesions ◽  
Additional Tool ◽  
Neuropathological Examination

Neuropathological examination of post-mortem brains of patients with dementia due to neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular changes remains important, as the family wants to be sure about the clinical diagnosis and the risk of a hereditary disease. 7.0-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be applied as an additional tool to examine post-mortem brains of patients with neurodegenerative and cerebrovasular diseases. It allows examination of serial coronal sections of a cerebral hemisphere and horizontal sections of brainstem and cerebellum and comparison with the neuropathological lesions. Post-mortem MRI can show the degree and the distribution of the cerebral atrophy. Additional small cerebrovascular lesions can be quantified. The degree of iron load, not due to microbleeds, can be evaluated in different basal ganglia and brainstem structures. Three to six serial sections of a cerebral hemisphere and one section of brainstem and cerebellum allow the evaluation of the most important brain changes and to select the small samples to be used for histological diagnostic purposes. These correlation studies are extremely important for the future, when more 7.0-tesla MRI machines will be available forin vivoclinical-radiological diagnosis. This article is a review of post-mortem MRI data in the brains of patients with neurodegenerative and vascular dementias.

scholarly journals Post-Mortem 7.0-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Hippocampus in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy with and without Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

NeuroSci ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-120
Author(s):  
Jacques De Reuck ◽  
Florent Auger ◽  
Nicolas Durieux ◽  
Claude-Alain Maurage ◽  
Vincent Deramecourt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy ◽  
Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy ◽  
Amyloid Angiopathy ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Cerebral Amyloid ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
Neuropathological Examination

Introduction and Purpose: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) can be observed in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), though to a lesser degree than in Alzheimer’s disease. The present post-mortem 7.0-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluates whether CAA has an influence on the degree of hippocampal atrophy (HA) and on the incidence of associated micro-infarcts (HMIs) and cortical micro-bleeds (HMBs). Material and Methods: Eight brains with PSP-CAA were compared to 20 PSP brains without CAA. In addition to the neuropathological examination, the hippocampus was evaluated on the most representative coronal section with T2 and T2*-weighted MRI sequences. The average degree of HA was determined in both groups. The incidence of HMIs and HMBs was also compared as well as the frequency of cortical micro-infarcts (CoMIs) and cortical micro-bleeds (CoMBs) in the hemispheric neocortex. Results: The neuropathological examination showed a higher incidence of lacunar infarcts in the PSP-CAA brains compared to the PSP ones. With magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the severity of HA and the incidence of HMIs and HMBs was similar between both groups. Additionally, the frequency of CoMIs and CoMBs in the neocortex was comparable. Conclusions: The association of CAA in PSP brains has no influence on the degree of HA and on the incidence of the small cerebrovascular lesions in the hippocampus as well as in the neocortex.

scholarly journals Comparison of Post-mortem 7.0-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brains of Alzheimer Patients with and without Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques De Reuck ◽  
◽  
Florent Auger ◽  
Nicolas Durieux ◽  
Claude-Alain Maurage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy ◽  
Amyloid Angiopathy ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Cerebrovascular Lesions ◽  
Mri Sequences ◽  
Cerebral Amyloid ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri

Purpose: The influence of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains unexplored. The present post-mortem study investigated possible differences in the degree of hippocampal atrophy (HA) between AD patients with and without CAA using 7.0-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Also, the incidence of the hippocampal cortical micro-infarcts (HCoMIs) and hippocampal cortical micro-bleeds (HCoMBs) is compared to those in the neocortex. Methods: The examined post-mortem brains included 30 AD-CAA cases and 20 AD without CAA cases. The samples of the hippocampus were evaluated on the most representative coronal section with T2 and T2* MRI sequences. The average degree of HA was determined in both groups. The incidences of HCoMIs and HCoMBs, along with the frequency of CoMIs and CoMBs in the neocortex were compared in both groups: AD-with CAA and AD without CAA cases. Results: No significant differences were observed in the degree of HA and the incidence of hippocampal micro-infarcts (HMIs) and hippocampal micro-bleeds (HMBs) between the AD-CAA and the AD brains in contrast to the higher incidence of these cerebrovascular lesions in the neocortex of AD-CAA brains. The incidence of CoMIs and CoMBs in the neocortex showed similarity to that in the hippocampus of AD patients without CAA. Conclusions: CAA does not influence the degree of HA and the incidence of micro-infarcts (MIs) and micro-bleeds (MBs) in the hippocampus, in contrast to the high contribution of the latter with CAA in the neocortex. The hippocampus seems to be more spared from cerebrovascular involvement than the other parts of the brain.

scholarly journals Cerebrovascular Lesions in Pick Complex Diseases – A Neuropathological Study with a 7.0-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (02) ◽  
pp. 84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques L De Reuck ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Cerebral Hemisphere ◽  
Imaging Study ◽  
Complex Diseases ◽  
Corticobasal Degeneration ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Cerebrovascular Lesions ◽  
Neurodegenerative Process ◽  
Low Incidence

Pick complex refers to a spectrum of diseases that include the presence of tau. The main neuropathological phenotypes comprise tau-frontotemporal lobar degeneration (tau-FTLD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). The present neuropathological study investigated the incidence of cerebrovascular lesions, including the small lesions detected microscopically on a large coronal section of a cerebral hemisphere at the level of the mammillary body. In addition the severity and distribution of white matter changes (WMCs), cortical microinfarcts (CoMIs) and cortical microbleeds (CoMBs) are examined with 7.0-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on three coronal sections of a cerebral hemisphere. On neuropathological examination severe WMCs and more CoMBs are observed in tau-FTLD, while the latter are also more frequent in CBD. The MRI examination shows that severe WMCs are present in the frontal section of not only the tau-FTLD, but the PSP and CBD brains, albeit to a lesser degree. Severe WMCs and the increased number of CoMBs are related directly to the neurodegenerative process and do not represent additional cerebrovascular disease. The Pick complex diseases have a low incidence of real cerebrovascular lesions in common.

scholarly journals Alterations of the cerebral cortex in sporadic small vessel disease: A systematic review of in vivo MRI data

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxane Peres ◽  
François De Guio ◽  
Hugues Chabriat ◽  
Eric Jouvent
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Cerebral Cortex ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Small Vessel Disease ◽  
Small Vessel ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Vessel Disease

Cerebral small vessel diseases of the brain are a major determinant of cognitive impairment in the elderly. In small vessel diseases, the most easily identifiable lesions, both at post-mortem evaluation and magnetic resonance imaging, lie in subcortical areas. However, recent results obtained post-mortem, particularly in severe cases, have highlighted the burden of cortex lesions such as microinfarcts and diffuse neuronal loss. The recent development of image post-processing methods allows now assessing in vivo multiple aspects of the cerebral cortex. This systematic review aimed to analyze in vivo magnetic resonance imaging studies evaluating cortex alterations at different stages of small vessel diseases. Studies assessing the relationships between small vessel disease magnetic resonance imaging markers obtained at the subcortical level and cortex estimates were reviewed both in community-dwelling elderly and in patients with symptomatic small vessel diseases. Thereafter, studies analyzing cortex estimates in small vessel disease patients compared with healthy subjects were evaluated. The results support that important cortex alterations develop along the course of small vessel diseases independently of concomitant neurodegenerative processes. Easy detection and quantification of cortex changes in small vessel diseases as well as understanding their underlying mechanisms are challenging tasks for better understanding cognitive decline in small vessel diseases.

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