001). Valuable criteria of CS invasion by logistic regression analysis were the absence of periarterial enhancement (P = .043, odds ratio = 5.23) and the angle of intracavernous ICA encased by the tumor (P = .029, odds ratio = 1.017) with a threshold value of 136.5° with a sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 78.3%. MRI criteria may be helpful in evaluating the presence of CS invasion in pituitary macroadenoma. “
“In transcranial sonography (TCS), hypoechogenic Protein Tyrosine Kinase inhibitor signal of mesencephalic raphe structures has been described as a frequent finding in unipolar depression. It remains

unclear if raphe hypoechogenicity represents a correlate for an altered serotonergic system. The loudness dependence of auditory evoked potentials (LDAEP) has been proposed as an indirect indicator of central serotonergic activity. Aim of this study was to evaluate TCS and LDAEP as independent variables of the human cerebral serotonergic system. Sonographic and electrophysiological investigations as well as psychometric assessment were performed blindly in 44 healthy subjects (28.7 ± 7.0 years; 24 females). Hypoechogenic raphe was detected in 6 subjects (13.6%). Three probands (6.8%) exhibit hyperechogenicity of Substantia nigra. LDAEP values ranged between −2.80 and 8.40 mVeff/10dB (2.31 ± 2.44). No correlations between LDAEP and sonographic findings were found. There

AZD6244 mouse were no significant correlations with the psychometric assessments. At least in healthy subjects, our findings do not support the hypothesis that abnormal structural finding of hypoechogenic BR in TCS is accompanied by a functional impairment of serotonergic system as assessed by LDAEP. Further multimodal studies on patients with depressive disorders are needed to elucidate the impact of the hypoechogenic raphe signal in the pathophysiology of depression. “
“We investigated the accuracy of high-field proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) and fluorine-18 2-fluoro-deoxyglucose

positron emission selleck chemical tomography (18F-FDG-PET) for diagnosis of glioma progression following tumor resection, stereotactic radiation, and chemotherapy. Twelve post-therapy patients with histology proven gliomas (six grade II and six grade III) presented with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and clinical symptoms suggestive but not conclusive of progression were entered into the study. 1H MRS data were acquired and 3-dimensional volumetric maps of choline (Cho) over creatine (Cr) were generated. Intensity of 18F-FDG uptake was evaluated on a semiquantitative scale. The accuracy of 1H MRS and 18F-FDG-PET imaging for diagnosis of glioma progression was 75% and 83%, respectively. Classifying the tumors by grade improved accuracy of 18F-FDG-PET to 100% in high-grade gliomas and accuracy of 1H MRS to 80% in low-grade tumors. Spearman’s analysis demonstrated a trend between 18F-FDG uptake and tumor grading (ρ= .612, P-value = .272).