0000000000206814
AUTHOR
Alessandro Calamuneri
Cognitive processess and cognitive reserve in multiple sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is characterized by motor, cognitive, and neuropsychiatric symptoms, which can occur independently. While MS is traditionally considered an inflammatory disease of the white matter, degeneration of gray matter is increasingly recognized as an important contributor to the progressive cognitive decline. A protective factor against the progression of cognitive dysfunction in MS could be the cognitive reserve, defined as resistance to brain dysfunction. Aim of the present study is to evaluate the role of cognitive reserve for different aspects of cognitive dysfunction of patients with MS. We found that patients with MS and lower cognitive reserve have poorer neuropsychol…
Is There a Future for Non-invasive Brain Stimulation as a Therapeutic Tool?
Several techniques and protocols of non-invasive transcranial brain stimulation (NIBS), including transcranial magnetic and electrical stimuli, have been developed in the past decades. These techniques can induce long lasting changes in cortical excitability by promoting synaptic plasticity and thus may represent a therapeutic option in neuropsychiatric disorders. On the other hand, despite these techniques have become popular, the fragility and variability of the after effects are the major challenges that non-invasive transcranial brain stimulation currentlyfaces. Several factors may account for such a variability such as biological variations, measurement reproducibility, and the neurona…
3T Double Inversion Recovery Magnetic Resonance Imaging: diagnostic advantages in the evaluation of cortical development anomalies
Abstract Purpose The aim of this work was to investigate the diagnostic value of the DIR sequence at 3T MR imaging operating in the evaluation of cortical development anomalies. Methods We studied 40 patients, with a previous diagnosis of cortical dysplasia, by FLAIR-3D, DIR, FSE T2 and MPR-GE T1 sequences at 3T MRI. Two independent observers evaluated, for each sequence and lesion, some semiological aspects (cortical thickness, cortical signal intensity, white-gray matter blurring, subcortical white matter intensity). We made also a quantitative evaluation of the cortical signal intensity in lesion site, drawing a ROI on each MRI sequences and comparing them to the correspondent normal con…
Perfusion computed tomography of intracranial meningiomas: In vivo correlation of cerebral blood volume and vascular permeability
Background A noninvasive method to predict the grade of a meningioma would be desirable since it would anticipate information about tumour nature, recurrence and improve tumour management and outcomes. The aim of the present study was to assess the ability of perfusion computed tomography (PCT) technique in predicting the meningioma grade before surgery. Data from PCT, such as cerebral blood volume (CBV) and permeability surface (PS), were correlated with immunohistolopathological information. Methods Twenty-three patients with a diagnosis of intracranial meningioma underwent PCT for pre-surgical evaluation of CBV and PS. During surgery, samples from the centre and periphery of the tumour w…
MRI patient selection for endovascular thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke: correlation between pretreatment diffusion weighted imaging and outcome scores
Introduction: Eligibility for endovascular treatment (EVT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) depends, amongst other factors, on CT- or MR-based scores. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Alberta Stroke Program Early CT score based on diffusion weighted imaging (MR-ASPECT) in the assessment of brain damage pre-EVT, patient selection for EVT and outcome. Materials and methods: We included in this study patients with National Institute of Health stroke score (NIHSS) at admission ≥ 8, MR-ASPECT ≥ 5 and anterior AIS, who were treated with EVT in our hospital. All patients were clinically evaluated at admission, post-EVT, discharge and at 3-month follow-up. We used MR…
COGNITIVE PROCESSING OF SENSORY STIMULI IN CERVICAL DYSTONIA
Objective: Investigation of spatial and temporal recognition in Cervical Dystonia (CD). Methods: Four neuropsychological tasks, based on perception in time and space domains of visual and acoustic stimuli, were given to twenty-two CD patients and twenty-two age-matched healthy controls (C). Repeated measure ANOVA was run on group (CD, C), either pooling type of task (spatial, temporal) and type of stimuli (visual, acoustic) factors coming from all tasks either investigating single tasks. Results: In pooled analysis we found that CD were less accurate than C (F¼6.080, p¼0.018). In particular CD were worse in spatial-acoustic task (F¼5.839, p¼0.020). Significant differences were detected, eva…