[CT or MRT--when is which procedure reliable in laryngeal diagnosis?].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to T Vogl.
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Facial nerve palsy is commonly examined using a variety of topodiagnostic and electrophysiological tests. More recently, MRI has also been used to study lesions of the facial nerve. Due to varying time intervals between the onset of symptoms and clinical examination, however, the diagnostic value of these procedures remains limited. In the present study, 30 patients with facial nerve palsy of diverse origin were examined with MRI (1.5 Tesla magnetom) using a special surface coil and 30 degrees parasagittal slices of 3 mm thickness. These special modifications enabled us to visualize the nerve in its entire course through the temporal bone. After the application of Gd-DTPA the enhancement of the contrast medium could be verified in all cases. A moderate enhancement in the geniculate ganglion as well as in the labyrinthine segment correlated with a good prognosis in terms of complete restoration of facial nerve activity, while an increased enhancement correlated with a poor prognosis. Our results indicate that MRI is of superior diagnostic value as compared to clinical and electrodiagnostic tests, at least in the patients we examined in this study. Still, further evaluations are necessary to justify a possible routine clinical use of this procedure.
A 46-year-old woman presented with an unusual erythema multiforme-like eruption and severe headache 10 days after treatment with pyritinol for cerebral concussion. Histopathologic findings were consistent with erythema multiforme. Skin lesions and headache cleared after withdrawal of the drug. According to neurological examination and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, the headache may have resulted from a slight, pyritinol-induced vasculitis. Previous reports on severe pyritinol-induced side effects and possible pathogenetic mechanisms are reviewed. Since pyritinol cannot be considered as an essential drug for cerebral concussion, adverse effects as described here raise doubts as to its general use in the given indication.
We report a rare case of Tolosa-Hunt syndrome in 48-year-old woman with terminal renal insufficiency and acute onset of headache and disturbances of the cranial nerves. MRI was performed to exclude cerebral disease. 14 days later the patient died from the terminal renal insufficiency. Neurohistopathological examination revealed pseudotumorous tissue components confirming the diagnosis of Tolosa-Hunt syndrome.
Kaposi's sarcoma is the major neoplastic disease of HIV-infected patients in the head and neck regions. A clinical study realized at Ludwig-Maximilians University, München, uncover 25 homosexuals with KS out of 135 HIB-positive patients. Six of them showed a KS as initial manifestation of the syndrome. The KS was found principally in the palate (22 cases), oropharynx (12) and skin of the neck (11). Symptoms like swallowing or breathing problems occurred in nodular lesions of the mouth, pharynx or larynx, but no in the maculous type. Local laser and/or systemic (retrovir, interferon, chemotherapy) treatment was performed. CO2 and Nd:YAG laser-therapy showed a regression of the tumors and thus an improvement of quality of life could be achieved.
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A 39-year-old man was hospitalized because of a 5-week history of feeling very ill, with fever up to 39 degrees C and nonspecific upper abdominal pain. He looked very pale and his spleen was painful on palpation. There was a blood eosinophilia of over 50% and computed tomography demonstrated hypodense areas in the liver, suggesting a parasitic infection with liver involvement. An ELISA factor of over 100 and the finding of liver fluke eggs in bile confirmed the diagnosis of Fasciola hepatica infection, which was probably acquired by eating wild watercress when visiting in the Allgäu. A fasciola infection was also proven in his 37-year-old sister who for some time had complained of colicky right-sided upper abdominal pain, her 40-year-old husband with similar symptoms and their 10-year-old daughter. All four were successfully treated for two days with 10 mg/kg triclabendazole daily by mouth. Persons eating raw vegetables and salads of wild-growing plants are at risk of being infected with Fasciola hepatica.
Single-photon emission computed tomography with 123I-iodobenzamide, a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist, was employed to study dopamine D2 receptor densities in 17 patients with biochemically proved Wilson's disease and stable neurological status with therapy and in 5 age-matched control subjects. Of the 17 patients with Wilson's disease, 5 were neurologically asymptomatic, 3 had cerebellar signs, 1 exhibited a mild parkinsonian syndrome, 7 showed a parkinsonian syndrome and cerebellar signs, and 1 had generalized dystonia and a parkinsonian syndrome. In 5 age-matched control subjects specific isotope binding as calculated by the basal ganglia to frontal cortex ratio was 1.57 +/- 0.04 (mean +/- standard deviation). The ratio in patients with Wilson's disease ranged from 1.56 +/- 0.05 (n = 5, asymptomatic patients) to 1.17 +/- 0.02 (n = 4, marked neurological impairment). We observed an almost linear correlation between the reduction of 123I-iodobenzamide (IBZM) binding and the severity of neurological signs at the time of IBZM-SPECT (correlation coefficient, -0.84; p < 0.01). We suggest that the reduction of postsynaptic striatal dopamine D2 receptors as detected by IBZM-SPECT reflects striatal neuronal damage in Wilson's disease.
[123I]iodobenzamide-single photon emission computed tomography (IBZM-SPECT) was employed to study the distribution of dopamine D2 receptors in a patient with biochemically proven Wilson's disease presenting with generalized dystonia. IBZM is a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist with high affinity and specific binding to basal ganglia detectable by SPECT. IBZM-SPECT in this patient (age, 20 years) displayed a striatum to frontal cortex ratio of 1.2 compared to 1.55 +/- 0.05 (mean +/- SD) in normal controls (n = 7; mean age, 53.3 years). In parallel with this finding, MRI with heavily T2-weighted sequences showed atrophy and low signal intensity changes of the basal ganglia. There was no improvement of dystonia after a subcutaneous injection of apomorphine. In contrast, IBZM-SPECT of a neurologically asymptomatic Wilson's disease patient (age, 21 years) displayed a striatum to frontal cortex ratio of 1.6. The MRI scan of this patient was normal. It is suggested that the observed apomorphine-unresponsive generalized dystonia in this Wilson's disease patient is related to striatal lesions proven by IBZM-SPECT and MRI.
Limb and trunk muscles of 57 patients with the juvenile or adult form of myotonic dystrophy were studied by imaging techniques (ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging). Typical findings were atrophy of the tibialis anterior and triceps brachii muscles and fatty degeneration of the vastus intermedius, sartorius, tibialis anterior and soleus muscles as well as of medial head of the gastrocnemius muscle. Magnetic resonance imaging was the most sensitive technique in depicting mesenchymal muscle alterations, followed by computed tomography and ultrasound. The data support that imaging is more sensitive in detecting the myopathy than measurement of the creatine kinase activity.
We report on a 29-year-old male patient, who presented at our outpatient clinic with a 6-year history of progressive swelling of the right cheek. Contraction of the masseter muscle increased the swelling. MR-Imaging revealed a tumor measuring 2 x 3 cm, which was located within the masseter muscle. The histological diagnosis was infiltrating lipoma, which to our knowledge has not been described in this area before. This particular type of lipoma is extremely rare in the head and neck. The diagnostic and therapeutic management of infiltrating lipoma is discussed, and guidelines for adequate follow-up suggested. In addition, the authors review other sites of this tumor and describe its histological characteristics and differential diagnosis.
Sjögren's syndrome is characterised by xerostomia, xerophthalmia and recurrent parotid swelling. There is a high coincidence with rheumatoid diseases. A variety of clinical and laboratory parameters offers important information for diagnosis, but none of them is specific for this disease. 36 patients with clinical diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome were examined in a prospective study to evaluate the diagnostic significance of this technique. 34 patients showed an inhomogeneous, nodular pattern in the parotid gland. The signal intensity was very high, especially in the T2-weighted sequences. There was a significant correlation of the radiologic changes with the course of the disease. Four patients with the clinical diagnosis of sialadenosis demonstrated bilateral enlarged glands with a homogeneous signal pattern. Patients with acute purulent parotitis demonstrated enlargement of the gland without an alteration in the signal pattern. Patients with chronic recurrent parotitis and patients with radiogenic sialadenitis showed little inhomogeneous increase of signal intensity. Our results indicate that MRI is presently the radiological method of choice in the evaluation of Sjögren's syndrome.
A case of a parapharyngeal rhabdomyoma is presented. Only about 30 cases of this benign tumor of striated muscles are reported in the literature. Most tumors were located in the lateral cervical region. Histologically a rhabdomyoma must be distinguished from other mesenchymal tumors, especially from granular cell myoblastoma, hibernoma and reticulohistiocytoma. The value of magnetic resonance imaging in the radiological evaluation of parapharyngeal masses is emphasized. Operative resection is generally regarded as the therapy of choice. Local recurrences have been reported in some cases; malignant degeneration is not known.
46 patients with avascular necrosis of the femoral head were examined by T2- and T1-weighted MR before and after infusion of Gd-DTPA. Both sides were involved in 12 cases. The classification was done according to Ficat. In early stages and in postoperative studies a correlation of signal intensity after infusion of Gd-DTPA and clinical symptoms was found. Hyperintensity of the avascular area or of the implanted material was assumed to be vascularised or vital components in 4 cases of Ficat I and in 15 postoperative studies. Contrariwise, we found in 5 patients with severe postoperative symptoms, low signal intensity areas due to avascular regions.
11 patients with cystic lesions of the floor of the mouth were examined by MR imaging. Coronal slices provided an optimal visualisation of the lesions, but axial and sagittal slices added important information with regard to the exact topographic relationship between tumour and muscles. In particular, the mylohyoid muscle could be defined as a key structure. T1-weighted sequences enabled best visualisation of anatomic details, whereas T2-weighted sequences facilitated the primary diagnosis of cystic lesions. The contrast agent Gd-DTPA did not add information of significant diagnostic value. Our results indicate that MRI allows an exact visualisation of location and extent of cystic lesions and their relationship to surrounding muscles. We conclude that MRI is of high value in planning the operative strategy.