scholarly journals Integrative Analysis of Circulating Metabolite Profiles and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Metrics in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilias Thomas ◽  
Alex M. Dickens ◽  
Jussi P. Posti ◽  
Mehrbod Mohammadian ◽  
Christian Ledig ◽  
...  

Recent evidence suggests that patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) have a distinct circulating metabolic profile. However, it is unclear if this metabolomic profile corresponds to changes in brain morphology as observed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The aim of this study was to explore how circulating serum metabolites, following TBI, relate to structural MRI (sMRI) findings. Serum samples were collected upon admission to the emergency department from patients suffering from acute TBI and metabolites were measured using mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. Most of these patients sustained a mild TBI. In the same patients, sMRIs were taken and volumetric data were extracted (138 metrics). From a pool of 203 eligible screened patients, 96 met the inclusion criteria for this study. Metabolites were summarized as eight clusters and sMRI data were reduced to 15 independent components (ICs). Partial correlation analysis showed that four metabolite clusters had significant associations with specific ICs, reflecting both the grey and white matter brain injury. Multiple machine learning approaches were then applied in order to investigate if circulating metabolites could distinguish between positive and negative sMRI findings. A logistic regression model was developed, comprised of two metabolic predictors (erythronic acid and myo-inositol), which, together with neurofilament light polypeptide (NF-L), discriminated positive and negative sMRI findings with an area under the curve of the receiver-operating characteristic of 0.85 (specificity = 0.89, sensitivity = 0.65). The results of this study show that metabolomic analysis of blood samples upon admission, either alone or in combination with protein biomarkers, can provide valuable information about the impact of TBI on brain structural changes.

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (22) ◽  
pp. 2524-2529 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Qiu ◽  
Junfeng Li

Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been a prominent topic in recent years due to its unknown etiology and pathology, high prevalence rate, and the high cost of treatment. Due to its high resolution for soft tissue, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an essential noninvasive tool for the evaluation of the brain substrates underlying mental disorders. MRI enables characterization of brain morphology and function in MDD patients. Compared to healthy controls, MDD patients have structural changes in certain brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, precuneus, thalamus, and hippocampus. Abnormal brain functions as indicated by various MRI measurements including region homogeneity, the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation, functional connectivity, and mean kurtosis may also contribute to the pathogenesis of MDD. This mini-review summarizes recent MRI findings on the neural manifestations of MDD. We discuss the potential of MRI biomarkers that may prove clinically useful for early diagnosis and evaluation of treatment outcomes for depression.


Author(s):  
Stefan Heim ◽  
Karsten Specht

Since the discoveries of language-sensitive brain areas in the late nineteenth century, the localization of the language network in the brain has been the subject of neurolinguistics research. Especially during the times of the two world wars and until the 1980s, head and brain injuries in soldiers as well as in civil patients served as the main data source. The advent of neuroimaging techniques roughly 100 years later was a milestone, providing online data from the living brain. This chapter presents functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as the most frequently used technique, the physical basics, appropriate experimental study designs, and perspectives for novel developments for neurolinguistics research in the active and passive brain.


2021 ◽  
pp. 197140092098866
Author(s):  
Daniel Thomas Ginat ◽  
James Kenniff

Background The COVID-19 pandemic led to a widespread socioeconomic shutdown, including medical facilities in many parts of the world. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact on neuroimaging utilisation at an academic medical centre in the United States caused by this shutdown. Methods Exam volumes from 1 February 2020 to 11 August 2020 were calculated based on patient location, including outpatient, inpatient and emergency, as well as modality type, including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. 13 March 2020 was designated as the beginning of the shutdown period for the radiology department and 1 May 2020 was designated as the reopening date. The scan volumes during the pre-shutdown, shutdown and post-shutdown periods were compared using t-tests. Results Overall, neuroimaging scan volumes declined significantly by 41% during the shutdown period and returned to 98% of the pre-shutdown period levels after the shutdown, with an estimated 3231 missed scans. Outpatient scan volumes were more greatly affected than inpatient scan volumes, while emergency scan volumes declined the least during the shutdown. In addition, the magnetic resonance imaging scan volumes declined to a greater degree than the computed tomography scan volumes during the shutdown. Conclusion The shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial but transient impact on neuroimaging utilisation overall, with variable magnitude depending on patient location and modality type.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 227
Author(s):  
Rudaina Banihani ◽  
Judy Seesahai ◽  
Elizabeth Asztalos ◽  
Paige Terrien Church

Advances in neuroimaging of the preterm infant have enhanced the ability to detect brain injury. This added information has been a blessing and a curse. Neuroimaging, particularly with magnetic resonance imaging, has provided greater insight into the patterns of injury and specific vulnerabilities. It has also provided a better understanding of the microscopic and functional impacts of subtle and significant injuries. While the ability to detect injury is important and irresistible, the evidence for how these injuries link to specific long-term outcomes is less clear. In addition, the impact on parents can be profound. This narrative summary will review the history and current state of brain imaging, focusing on magnetic resonance imaging in the preterm population and the current state of the evidence for how these patterns relate to long-term outcomes.


Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone B. Duss ◽  
Anne-Kathrin Brill ◽  
Sébastien Baillieul ◽  
Thomas Horvath ◽  
Frédéric Zubler ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is highly prevalent in acute ischaemic stroke and is associated with worse functional outcome and increased risk of recurrence. Recent meta-analyses suggest the possibility of beneficial effects of nocturnal ventilatory treatments (continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV)) in stroke patients with SDB. The evidence for a favourable effect of early SDB treatment in acute stroke patients remains, however, uncertain. Methods eSATIS is an open-label, multicentre (6 centres in 4 countries), interventional, randomized controlled trial in patients with acute ischaemic stroke and significant SDB. Primary outcome of the study is the impact of immediate SDB treatment with non-invasive ASV on infarct progression measured with magnetic resonance imaging in the first 3 months after stroke. Secondary outcomes are the effects of immediate SDB treatment vs non-treatment on clinical outcome (independence in daily functioning, new cardio-/cerebrovascular events including death, cognition) and physiological parameters (blood pressure, endothelial functioning/arterial stiffness). After respiratory polygraphy in the first night after stroke, patients are classified as having significant SDB (apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) > 20/h) or no SDB (AHI < 5/h). Patients with significant SDB are randomized to treatment (ASV+ group) or no treatment (ASV− group) from the second night after stroke. In all patients, clinical, physiological and magnetic resonance imaging studies are performed between day 1 (visit 1) and days 4–7 (visit 4) and repeated at day 90 ± 7 (visit 6) after stroke. Discussion The trial will give information on the feasibility and efficacy of ASV treatment in patients with acute stroke and SDB and allows assessing the impact of SDB on stroke outcome. Diagnosing and treating SDB during the acute phase of stroke is not yet current medical practice. Evidence in favour of ASV treatment from a randomized multicentre trial may lead to a change in stroke care and to improved outcomes. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02554487, retrospectively registered on 16 September 2015 (actual study start date, 13 August 2015), and www.kofam.ch (SNCTP000001521).


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 775
Author(s):  
Sung-Suk Oh ◽  
Eun-Hee Lee ◽  
Jong-Hoon Kim ◽  
Young-Beom Seo ◽  
Yoo-Jin Choo ◽  
...  

(1) Background: Blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption following traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in a secondary injury by facilitating the entry of neurotoxins to the brain parenchyma without filtration. In the current paper, we aimed to review previous dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) studies to evaluate the occurrence of BBB disruption after TBI. (2) Methods: In electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and the Cochrane Library), we searched for the following keywords: dynamic contrast-enhanced OR DCE AND brain injury. We included studies in which BBB disruption was evaluated in patients with TBI using DCE-MRI. (3) Results: Four articles were included in this review. To assess BBB disruption, linear fit, Tofts, extended Tofts, or Patlak models were used. KTrans and ve were increased, and the values of vp were decreased in the cerebral cortex and predilection sites for diffusion axonal injury. These findings are indicative of BBB disruption following TBI. (4) Conclusions: Our analysis supports the possibility of utilizing DCE-MRI for the detection of BBB disruption following TBI.


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