Search results for " INTERPRETATION"
showing 10 items of 555 documents
Assessment of atrial diastolic function in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by cine magnetic resonance imaging
2015
Purpose: This study was conducted to assess the role of atrial function by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) for the evaluation of diastolic physiology in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) compared to healthy controls. Materials and methods: We enrolled 23 consecutive patients affected by HCM and 43 healthy subjects as age-matched control cases (CC). CMR was performed through acquisition of cine steady-state free precession sequences using a 1.5-T scanner. Image postprocessing was carried out using Tracking Tool software. Results: Atrial volumes were significantly higher in patients with HCM compared to CC: maximum atrial volume (p = 0.007) and minimum atrial volume (p = 0.01).…
Causal cross-spectral analysis of heart rate and blood pressure variability for describing the impairment of the cardiovascular control in neurally m…
2006
A causal approach to the calculation of coherence and transfer function between systolic pressure (SP) and RR interval variability was applied in eight patients and eight control subjects during prolonged tilt test for investigating the impairment of cardiovascular control related to neurally mediated syncope. The causal analysis showed a depressed baroreflex regulation in resting patients, with reduced gain and increased latency from SP to RR, and a drop of the baroreflex coupling immediately before syncope. These findings, which were not elicited by traditional cross-spectral analysis, strongly suggest the use of the causal approach for the study of syncope mechanisms. © 2006 IEEE.
Cingulo-Insular Structural Alterations Associated with Psychogenic Symptoms, Childhood Abuse and PTSD in Functional Neurological Disorders
2017
Objective Adverse early-life events are predisposing factors for functional neurological disorder (FND) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cingulo-insular regions are implicated in the biology of both conditions and are sites of stress-mediated neuroplasticity. We hypothesised that functional neurological symptoms and the magnitude of childhood abuse would be associated with overlapping anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insular volumetric reductions, and that FND and PTSD symptoms would map onto distinct cingulo-insular areas. Methods This within-group voxel-based morphometry study probes volumetric associations with self-report measures of functional neurological symptoms, advers…
Plantar fascia evaluation with a dedicated magnetic resonance scanner in weight-bearing position: our experience in patients with plantar fasciitis a…
2010
Purpose. This study assessed the usefulness of upright weight-bearing examination of the ankle/hind foot performed with a dedicated magnetic resonance (MR)imaging scanner in the evaluation of the plantar fascia in healthy volunteers and in patients with clinical evidence of plantar fasciitis. Materials and methods. Between January and March 2009, 20 patients with clinical evidence of plantar fasciitis (group A) and a similar number of healthy volunteers (group B) underwent MR imaging of the ankle/hind foot in the upright weight-bearing and conventional supine position. A 0.25-Tesla MR scanner (G-Scan, Esaote SpA, Genoa, Italy) was used with a dedicated receiving coil for the ankle/hind foot…
The clinical use of statistical permutation test methodology: a tool for identifying predictive variables of outcome.
2015
<b><i>Objectives:</i></b> To identify the predictive variables affecting the outcome after radical surgery for bladder cancer by a newer statistical methodology, i.e. nonparametric combination (NPC). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A multicenter study enrolled 1,312 patients who had undergone radical cystectomy for bladder cancer in 11 Italian oncological centers from January 1982 to December 2002. A statistical analysis<b> </b>of their medical history and diagnostic, pathological and postoperative variables was performed using a NPC test. The<b> </b>patients were included in a comprehensive database with medical history and cli…
Imaging the visual autokinetic illusion with fMRI
2005
During fixation of a stationary, dim light-emitting diode (LED) in complete darkness, a subtle, apparent motion is perceived which is called autokinesis. This autokinetic illusion increases with increasing fixation time. Eleven healthy subjects were examined by fMRI while fixating an LED in darkness for 35 s. BOLD signal changes of the first and the second half of the fixation period were compared. While the stimulus was the same for both periods, perception differed in that autokinesis was more pronounced in the second half. This second half of the period was associated with bilateral activations in the motion-sensitive middle occipito-temporal area known as MT/V5. Our finding suggests tha…
Standardized T2* map of normal human heart in vivo to correct T2* segmental artefacts.
2007
A segmental, multislice, multi-echo T2* MRI approach could be useful in heart iron-overloaded patients to account for heterogeneous iron distribution, demonstrated by histological studies. However, segmental T2* assessment in heart can be affected by the presence of geometrical and susceptibility artefacts, which can act on different segments in different ways. The aim of this study was to assess T2* value distribution in the left ventricle and to develop a correction procedure to compensate for artefactual variations in segmental analysis. MRI was performed in four groups of 22 subjects each: healthy subjects (I), controls (II) (thalassemia intermedia patients without iron overload), thala…
[Treatment of sensorineural hearing loss in acute viral otitis media with intratympanic dexamethasone and hyaluronic acid in comparison with intraven…
2006
Background: Intratympanic dexamethasone with hyaluronic acid has shown to be an effective treatment of the inner ear damage in sudden hearing loss and Meniere's disease. It is not known yet if the same applies to the toxic inner ear damage in acute viral otitis media. Patients: Retrospectively, 26 patients who suffered from acute viral otitis media with sensorineural hearing loss were examined with regard to the improvement of their inner ear hearing loss. Twelve patients were treated with intravenous therapy only, consisting of hydroxyethylstarch, pentoxifylline and prednisolone. Fourteen patients additionally received intratympanic injections, consisting of dexamethasone and hyaluronic ac…
Surrogate data approaches to assess the significance of directed coherence: Application to EEG activity propagation
2009
This paper addresses the topic of evaluating the significance of frequency domain measures of causal coupling in multivariate time series through generation of surrogate data. The considered approaches are the traditional Fourier Transform (FT) algorithm and a new causal FT (CFT) algorithm for surrogate data generation. Both algorithms preserve the FT modulus of the original series; differences are in the phase relationships, that are completely destroyed for FT surrogates and imposed after switching off the link over the considered causal direction for CFT surrogates. The ability of the algorithms to assess causality in the frequency domain was tested using the directed coherence as discri…
Validation of tumour-free distance as novel prognostic marker in early-stage cervical cancer: a retrospective, single-centre, cohort study
2021
Background: The aim of the present study was to assess the prognostic value of tumour-free distance (TFD), defined as the minimum distance of uninvolved stroma between the tumour and peri-cervical stromal ring, in early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: Patients with pathologic FIGO 2009 stage IA1–IIA2 cervical cancer, treated by primary radical surgical treatment between 01/2000 and 11/2019, were retrospectively included. Adjuvant treatment was administered according to the presence of previously established pathologic risk factors. TFD was measured histologically on the hysterectomy specimen. Pre-operative TFD measured at MRI-scan from a cohort of patients was reviewed and compared with pat…