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Biomedical subjects

A Corsetti

Publications and source records attributed to A Corsetti.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

[Magnetic resonance angiography of the portal vein in liver transplant recipients].

This work was aimed at investigating the diagnostic accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) in the study of the portal vein in liver transplant recipients. Ten patients (7 men and 3 women; mean age: 45 years) were examined 7-180 days after transplantation. The indications to liver transplant follow: post-infective active chronic hepatitis (4 patients), post-alcoholic chronic hepatitis (2 patients), HCC (2 patients), sclerosing cholangitis (1 patient) and primary biliary cirrhosis (1 patient). MRA images were acquired with the 2D TOF technique (TR 50 ms, TE 6.9 ms; FA 30 degrees, 40 slices; 6-mm thickness with 1-mm overlapping; 2 averages; 7.06 TA; matrix: 192 x 256). Axial scans were reconstructed with the MIP technique. Phase contrast sequences with retrospective cardiac triggering were also acquired for flow quantitation (TR/TE/FA: 26/9.3/20 degrees; FOV 150; matrix: 96 x 128; 4 averages, VENC = 20 cm/s). MRA yielded good quality images of the anatomy of the main portal vein and of the bifurcation in all cases, while a signal loss was observed in the peripheral branches. In all cases, the anastomosis could be studied at the portal vein. On MIP reconstructed images, the anastomosis appeared as a relative stenosis (4), while on 2D images it appeared as a small hypodense area on the vessel margin, because of the slight paramagnetic effect of the vascular suture. No thrombi were depicted in any patient and flow was hepatopetal in all cases. In conclusion, MRA is a useful tool for portal system studies in liver transplant recipients, because it permits the panoramic depiction of the portal system and the quantitation of flow (10).

Female↗

[Carcinoma of the pancreas. Typical and atypical aspects using midfield-strength magnetic resonance].

Until few years ago, MR assessment of pancreatic carcinoma was thought to be feasible only with high-strength equipment, but today also low- and midfield units allow pancreatic lesion detection, thanks to parameter optimization. The authors retrospectively analyzed the MR findings of 57 patients examined with a midfield MR unit; all the patients had clinically suspected pancreatic carcinoma, which was confirmed in 54 cases. The lesions were more easily detected using T1-weighted sequences, thanks to their high intrinsic contrast, while T2-weighted sequences often confirmed the glandular changes already depicted by T1-weighted sequences. MRI correctly depicted vascular and lymph node involvement and detected liver metastases with no i.v. contrast agent injection. The only limitations of this technique are the unfeasibility of MR exams of diagnostic value in uncooperative patients (5% of cases) and the very similar MR features of parenchymal scars, due to previous acute pancreatitis, to those of pancreatic carcinoma. In conclusion, CT remains the gold standard in the study of pancreatic cancers, but midfield strength MRI, if correctly performed, can be proposed as a complementary tool to CT, especially in questionable cases and in the patients with known reactions to iodinated contrast agents.

Aged↗

[Assessment with magnetic resonance of laryngeal and oropharyngeal movements during phonation].

The latest MR units are provided with the Turbo-Field-Echo technique which permits gradient-echo imaging with very short TE and TR and is optimized to yield the highest possible image quality within a very short acquisition time--i.e., less than 5 seconds. This dynamic study was aimed at depicting normal laryngeal and oropharyngeal movements during maximal inspiration and the prolonged uttering of vowels, in both a normal and a loud voice. We examined 10 healthy volunteers (7 men and 3 women) with an 0.5-T superconductive unit (Gyroscan T5 III, Philips Medical System). We used Turbo-Field-Echo sequences with the following acquisition parameters: TR 12 ms, TE 6 ms, flip angle 30 degrees, 4 acquisitions, acquisition time: 5 seconds. A single coronal scan was acquired at the larynx, while a midsagittal scan and 2 coronal scans were acquired at the oropharynx. The volunteers were asked to breathe in long and deep, to prolong the emission of the vowel [i] during laryngeal studies and to prolong the emission of the fundamental vowels [a], [i] and [u] in a normal (50 db) and a loud (70 db) voice during oropharyngeal studies. The movements of true and false vocal cords were clearly depicted in all the volunteers, and the activity of the different anatomical structures of the oropharyngeal cavity (lips, tongue, hard and soft palate, pharynx and epiglottis) was also demonstrated. During vowel production in a loud voice, the vocal tract was enlarged at the oral cavity for the vowels [a] and [u] and at the pharynx for the vowel [i]. To conclude, fast MRI with midsagittal scans is the best imaging modality to study different vocal tract patterns during speech and can thus replace midsagittal radiography and xeroradiography in the study of vowel production.

Adult↗