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Biomedical subjects

Timo Krings

Publications and source records attributed to Timo Krings.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Preoperative mapping of cortical motor function: prospective comparison of functional magnetic resonance imaging and [15O]-H2O-positron emission tomography in the same co-ordinate system.

BACKGROUND: Two of the most widely accepted approaches to map eloquent cortical areas preoperatively are positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). As yet, no study has compared these two modalities within the same frame of reference in tumour patients. AIM: We employed [15O]-H2O-PET and fMRI in patients undergoing presurgical evaluation and compared the results with those obtained by direct electrical cortical stimulation (DECS). METHODS: Twenty-five patients with tumours of different aetiology near the central region were investigated. fMRI and PET were processed using the same methods, i.e. statistical parametric mapping (SPM) without anatomical normalization, and transformed into the same frame of reference. RESULTS: fMRI activity was found in more cranial and lateral sections, i.e. closer to the brain surface, in comparison with PET, which demonstrated parenchymal activation. The mean localization difference between fMRI and PET was 8.1 +/- 4.6 mm (range, 2-18 mm). fMRI and [15O]-H2O-PET could reliably identify the central sulcus, as demonstrated by DECS. CONCLUSIONS: fMRI and [15O]-H2O-PET demonstrate comparable results and are sensitive and reliable tools to map the central region, especially in cases of infiltrating brain tumours. However, fMRI is more prone to artefacts, such as the visualization of draining veins, which may explain the more cranial and lateral activation visualized by fMRI, whereas PET depicts capillary perfusion changes and therefore shows activation closer to the parenchyma.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

A refined method for creating saccular aneurysms in the rabbit.

We describe a refined animal model of human intracerebral aneurysms for testing endovascular devices for interventional neuroradiological procedures. Saccular aneurysms resulting from a stump of the right common carotid artery (CCA) were created in 15 New Zealand White rabbits by intraluminal incubation of elastase that was applied to the CCA after distal ligation of the CCA and proximal occlusion of the vessel using a pliable balloon. Subsequently a microcatheter was advanced to a position cranial to the balloon and the elastase was infused under fluoroscopic guidance to avoid retrograde flow to the trachea via aberrant vessels. Contrast-enhanced (CE) MRA at 1.5 T and conventional digital subtraction angiography was performed to test for aneurysm size, morphology and neck anatomy. In all 15 animals aneurysms resulted from the stump of the right CCA, ranging in size from 2.0 to 9.9 mm (mean 6.3 mm) in craniocaudal direction, 1.0 to 5.5 mm (mean 3.8 mm) in mediolateral direction and 1.0 to 3.8 mm (mean 2.4 mm) in neck diameter. Aneurysm morphology could be adequately demonstrated using CE MRA. On histological evaluation a loss of the internal elastic lamina was noted. The described method represents an easy, reliable, and reproducible method of aneurysm creation in the rabbit in an area of high shear stress. These aneurysms can be used for testing new endovascular devices for embolization of intracranial aneurysms.

Angiography, Digital Subtraction↗
PubMed2003

Intraoperative three-dimensional visualization of the pyramidal tract in a neuronavigation system (PTV) reliably predicts true position of principal motor pathways.

BACKGROUND: This prospective study employs anisotropic diffusion-weighted (ADW) magnetic resonance imaging for the integration of individual spatial information concerning the principal motor pathways into the operating room during microneurosurgery in the central region. We hypothesize that the three-dimensional (3-D) visualization of the pyramidal tract position (PTV) in a neuronavigation system based on ADW provides valid information concerning the position and extension of the principal motor pathways. METHODS: A total of 13 consecutive patients with lesions adjacent to the pyramidal tracts and the central region underwent microneurosurgery with the help of pyramidal tract visualization (PTV). An ADW sequence obtained preoperatively was fused to an anatomic navigation sequence. The 3-D reconstructions of the precentral gyrus (PG), the pyramidal tract, and the tumor were available in a customized neuronavigation system during surgery. Intraoperatively the PG was identified on the basis of the aforementioned data. Electric motorcortex stimulation (CS) was used to directly verify the PG location and indirectly the fiber tract position. RESULTS: In 11 cases (92%) the prediction of the principal motor pathways' position was correct. In one case of a meningioma, according to PTV, the tumor was falsely localized postcentrally. In the case of a precentral cavernoma, no motor response could be elicited by cortical stimulation. CONCLUSION: Intraoperative PTV on the basis of ADW provides the neurosurgeon with reliable information concerning the position of the principal motor pathways during intracranial procedures as proved with intraoperative electrophysiological testing. The technique has the potential to reduce operative morbidity. PTV is straightforward and can be adapted to other customized neuronavigation devices.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Motor representation in patients rapidly recovering after stroke: a functional magnetic resonance imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation study.

OBJECTIVE: Neuroimaging studies have suggested an evolution of the brain activation pattern in the course of motor recovery after stroke. Initially poor motor performance is correlated with an recruitment of the uninjured hemisphere that continuously vanished until a nearly normal (contralateral) activation pattern is achieved and motor performance is good. Here we were interested in the early brain activation pattern in patients who showed a good and rapid recovery after stroke. METHODS: Ten patients with first-ever ischemic stroke affecting motor areas had to perform self-paced simple or more complex movements with the affected or the unaffected hand during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The location and number of activated voxels above threshold were determined. To study possible changes in the cortical motor output map the amplitude of the motor evoked potentials (MEP) and the extent of the excitable area were determined using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). RESULTS: The pattern of activation observed with movements of the affected and the unaffected hand was similar. In the simple motor task significant (P<0.05) increases were found in the primary motor cortex ipsilateral to the movement, the supplementary motor area and the cerebellar hemisphere contralateral to the movement during performance with the affected hand compared to movements with the unaffected hand. When comparing simple with more complex movements performed with either the affected or the unaffected hand, a further tendency to increased activation in motor areas was observed. The amplitude of MEPs obtained from the affected hemisphere was smaller and the extent of cortical output maps was decreased compared to the unaffected hemisphere; but none of the patients showed MEPs at the affected hand when the ipsilateral unaffected motor cortex was stimulated. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a rapid and nearly complete motor recovery the brain activation pattern was associated with increased activity in (bilateral) motor areas as revealed with fMRI. TMS revealed impaired motor output properties, but failed to demonstrate ipsilateral motor pathways. Successful recovery in our patients may therefore rely on the increased bilateral activation of existing motor networks spared by the injury.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Nontraumatic vascular emergencies: imaging and intervention in acute venous occlusion.

Risk factors for acute venous occlusion range from prolonged immobilization to hypercoagulability syndromes, trauma, and malignancy. The aim of this review article is to illustrate the different imaging options for the diagnosis of acute venous occlusion and to assess the value of interventional strategies for venous thrombosis treatment in an emergency setting.First, diagnosis and treatment of the most common form of venous occlusion, at the level of the lower extremities, is presented, followed by pelvic vein and inferior vena cava occlusion, mesenteric venous thrombosis, upper extremity occlusion, acute cerebral vein thrombosis, and finally acute venous occlusion of hemodialysis access.In acute venous occlusion of the lower extremity phlebography is still the reference gold standard. Presently, duplex ultrasound with manual compression is the most sensitive and specific noninvasive test. Limitations of ultrasonography include isolated distal calf vein occlusion, obesity, and patients with lower extremity edema. If sonography is nondiagnostic, venography should be considered. Magnetic resonance venography can differentiate an acute occlusion from chronic thrombus, but because of its high cost and limited availability, it is not yet used for the routine diagnosis of lower extremity venous occlusion only. Regarding interventional treatment, catheter-directed thrombolysis can be applied to dissolve thrombus in charily selected patients with symptomatic occlusion and no contraindications to therapy. Acute occlusion of the pelvic veins and the inferior vena cava, often due to extension from the femoropopliteal system, represents a major risk for pulmonary embolism. Color flow Doppler imaging is often limited owing to obesity and bowel gas. Venography has long been considered the gold standard for identifying proximal venous occlusion. Both CT scanning and MR imaging, however, can even more accurately diagnose acute pelvis vein or inferior vena cava occlusion. MRI is preferred because it is noninvasive, does not require contrast agent, carries no exposure to ionizing radiation, and is highly accurate and reproducible. Apart from catheter-directed thrombolysis, mechanical thrombectomy has proven to be a quick and safe treatment modality by enabling the recanalization of thrombotic occlusions in conjunction with minimal invasiveness and a low bleeding risk. Mechanical thrombectomy devices should only be used in conjunction with a temporary cava filter.Contrast-enhanced CT is at present considered the examination of choice for acute mesenteric vein occlusion which has mortality rates as high as 80%. Patients with proven acute mesenteric venous occlusion and contraindications to surgical therapy and no identified bleeding disposition without looming bowel ischemia or infarction are possible contenders to the less invasive percutaneous approach either by (in)direct thrombolysis or mechanical means. Ultrasonography is the primary imaging modality for the diagnosis of upper extremity thrombosis. Computed tomography and MRI are in addition helpful in diagnosing central chest vein occlusions. The interventionalist is rarely involved in the treatment of this entity. Catheter-directed thrombolysis is known to improve lysis rates. Together with balloon angioplasty good results have been obtained. If stenosis or thrombus remains after thrombolysis and angioplasty, stent placement should follow. Within the first two weeks, thrombosed dural sinus and cerebral venous vessels are typically hyperdense on CT compared with brain parenchyma; after the course of 2 weeks, the thrombus will become isodense. In MRI an axial fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequence, an axial diffusion-weighted MRI, coronal T1-weighted spin-echo and T2-weighted turbo-spin-echo sequences, a coronal gradient-echo and a 3D phase-contrast venous angiogram should be performed. Local thrombolysis is needed only when patients have an exacerbation of clinical symptoms or imaging signs of worsening disease despite sufficient anticoagulation therapy. Acute occlusions of dialysialysis grafts and fistulae are a frequently encountered complication. Among the various methods described for acute occlusion screening, ultrasonography and MRI have been proven to be accurate and noninvasive; however, if immediate treatment can be anticipated, imaging should be performed directly by digital subtraction angiography before the percutaneous intervention. Initial percutaneous thrombectomy is very effective with success rates and patency rates comparable to those of surgical thrombectomy. A short thrombosis can be treated with balloon angioplasty alone, whereas an extensive thrombosis requires a combination of mechanical devices and/or thrombolytic agents with adjunctive balloon angioplasty.

Emergencies↗
PubMed2002

Time-of-flight-, phase contrast and contrast enhanced magnetic resonance angiography for pre-interventional determination of aneurysm size, configuration, and neck morphology in an aneurysm model in rabbits.

We describe three different magnetic resonance (MR)-angiography techniques to evaluate aneurysm size, configuration, and neck morphology of experimentally created aneurysms in a rabbit model. In five New Zealand White rabbits an aneurysm was created by endovascular occlusion of the right common carotid artery (CCA) using a pliable balloon and subsequent endoluminal incubation of elastase within the proximal CCA above the balloon and distal ligation of the vessel. In all animals, time-of-flight (TOF), phase contrast and contrast enhanced (CE) MR angiographies (MRA) were performed and compared to conventional digital subtraction angiography results. We found, that aneurysms are best visualized employing CE MRA, however, neck morphology was also found to demonstrate interpretable results when evaluating the axial source data of the TOF MRA. The animal model we used can be employed for testing endovascular devices such as new coil material, or covered stents. The described MRA techniques might then be helpful for pre-interventional planning and maybe even for the follow-up of the thus treated aneurysms.

Aneurysm↗
PubMed2002

Preoperative assessment of motor cortex and pyramidal tracts in central cavernoma employing functional and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging.

BACKGROUND: Functional MRI (fMRI) combines anatomic with functional information and has therefore been widely used for preoperative planning of patients with mass lesions affecting functionally important brain regions. However, the courses of functionally important fiber tracts are not visualized. We therefore propose to combine fMRI with diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) that allows visualization of large fiber tracts and to implement this data in a neuronavigation system. METHODS: DWI was successfully performed at a field strength of 1.5 Tesla, employing a spin-echo sequence with gradient sensitivity in six noncollinear directions to visualize the course of the pyramidal tracts, and was combined with echo-planar T2* fMRI during a hand motor task in a patient with central cavernoma. RESULTS: Fusion of both data sets allowed visualization of the displacement of both the primary sensorimotor area (M1) and its large descending fiber tracts. Intraoperatively, these data were used to aid in neuronavigation. Confirmation was obtained by intraoperative electrical stimulation. Postoperative MRI revealed an undisrupted pyramidal tract in the neurologically intact patient. CONCLUSION: The combination of fMRI with DWI allows for assessment of functionally important cortical areas and additional visualization of large fiber tracts. Information about the orientation of fiber tracts in normal appearing white matter in patients with tumors within the cortical motor system cannot be obtained by other functional or conventional imaging methods and is vital for reducing operative morbidity as the information about functional cortex. This technique might, therefore, have the prospect of guiding neurosurgical interventions, especially when linked to a neuronavigation system.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinical hypnosis modulates functional magnetic resonance imaging signal intensities and pain perception in a thermal stimulation paradigm.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to describe regional changes in blood oxygenation level dependent signals in functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) elicited by thermal pain in hypnotized subjects. These signals approximately identify the neural correlates of the applied stimulation to identify neuroanatomic structures involved in the putative effects of clinical hypnosis on pain perception. METHODS: After determination of the heat pain threshold of 12 healthy volunteers, fMRI scans were performed at 1.5 Tesla by using echoplanar imaging technique during repeated painful heat stimuli. Activation of brain regions in response to thermal pain during hypnosis (using a fixation and command technique of hypnosis) was compared with responses without hypnosis. RESULTS: With hypnosis, less activation in the primary sensory cortex, the middle cingulate gyrus, precuneus, and the visual cortex was found. An increased activation was seen in the anterior basal ganglia and the left anterior cingulate cortex. There was no difference in activation within the right anterior cingulate gyrus in our fMRI studies. No activation was seen within the brainstem and thalamus under either condition. CONCLUSION: Our observations indicate that clinical hypnosis may prevent nociceptive inputs from reaching the higher cortical structures responsible for pain perception. Whether the effects of hypnosis can be explained by increased activation of the left anterior cingulate cortex and the basal ganglia as part of a possible inhibitory pathway on pain perception remains speculative given the limitations of our study design.

Brain↗