Author Archives: Letters to the Editor

Published online before print March 29, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3114
AJNR 2012 33: E79-E80

A.J. da Rocha^a and A.C. Martins Maia Jr^b
aDivision of Neuroradiology

B.C. Oliveira Valério^b
bDivision of Neurology
Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo
São Paulo, Brazil

We read the article by Carrara et al,¹ entitled “A Distinct MR Imaging Phenotype in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Correlation between T1 Magnetization Transfer Contrast Hyperintensity along the Corticospinal Tract and Diffusion Tensor Imaging Analysis,” with great interest. The possible recognition of a distinct phenotype of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) based on typical corticospinal tract … Continue reading >>

Published online before print April 19, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3130
AJNR 2012 33: E78

E. Anagnostou^a, S. Vassilopoulou^a and K. Spengos^a
aDepartment of Neurology
University of Athens
Eginition Hospital
Athens, Greece

S. Lachanis^b
bIatropolis Magnetic Resonance Diagnostic Centre
Athens, Greece

A 32-year-old woman presented with vertical diplopia after a blunt head injury due to a vehicle crash. On examination 2 weeks after the trauma, she had a pupil-involving right third-nerve palsy. The absence of intorsion when looking downward starting from an abducted eye-in-orbit position suggested a concomitant fourth nerve palsy. T1-weighted brain MR imaging … Continue reading >>

Published online before print March 22, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3095
AJNR 2012 33: E76-E77

K. Wang^a and S. Yuan^a
aDepartment of Neurosurgery
General Hospital of Jinan Military Command
Jinan, China

Published reports have described the elastase-induced aneurysm model in rabbits as easy and reproducible and possessing geometric, pathologic, and hemodynamic features that are similar to those of human cerebral aneurysms.¹ We used a simple surgical technique to produce the elastase-induced aneurysm model in rabbits² and used it to explore the efficacy of new endovascular devices. Recently, we found that 3 rabbits unexpectedly developed a thoracic aortic … Continue reading >>

Published online before print March 22, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3084
AJNR 2012 33: E66

A.R Sepahdari^a
aDepartment of Radiological Sciences

A. Harari^b
bDepartment of General Surgery
David Geffen School of Medicine
University of California Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

We read with interest the recent case series by Gafton et al,¹ sharing their experience with dual-phase CT of the neck for detection of parathyroid hormone (PTH)–secreting lesions. To date, much of the literature on multiphasic CT for detection of parathyroid adenoma has focused on the overall diagnostic performance of the technique and less on the specific … Continue reading >>

Published online before print March 22, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3094
AJNR 2012 33: e65

M. del Mar Carmona Abellán^a, M. Murie Fernández^a and P. Esteve Belloch^a
aDepartment of Neurology
Clínica Universidad de Navarra
Pamplona, Spain

We present the case of a 62-year-old man, with a history of severe head injury, right parietal fracture, frontal concussion, right subdural hematoma, and posttraumatic hydrocephalus. Two months later he showed progressive neurologic deterioration with bradypsychia, loss of mobility of the left side of the body, a decreased level of consciousness, as well as a speech disorder coinciding with a sinking … Continue reading >>

Published online before print February 9, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3041
AJNR 2012 33: E63

C.H. Riedel^a
aDepartment of Neuroradiology
University of Kiel
Kiel, Germany

A.J. Yoo^b
bDivision of Interventional and Diagnostic Neuroradiology
Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

We have read the recent article entitled “Quantification of Thrombus Hounsfield Units on Noncontrast CT Predicts Stroke Subtype and Early Recanalization after Intravenous Recombinant Tissue Plasminogen Activator” by Puig et al with great interest.¹ We congratulate the authors on their analysis, in which they found that relative Hounsfield unit attenuation of MCA clot was the best … Continue reading >>

Published online before print February 9, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3039
AJNR 2012 33: E61

B. Pulli^a and A.J. Yoo^a
aDivision of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology
Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

We have read with great interest the letter by Dr Kloska¹ and a subsequent reply²concerning a study by Sharma et al,³ investigating the perfusion imaging correlate of CTA source image (CTA-SI) lesions and would like to share our own data on this subject. On the basis of our findings, we agree with Dr Kloska that evaluation of acute ischemia with CTA-SI … Continue reading >>

Published online before print February 2, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3040
AJNR 2012 33: E44-E45

S.-Q. Zhang^a and Y.-T. Guan^a
aDepartment of Neurology
Changhai Hospital
Shanghai, China

Wernicke encephalopathy is a syndrome that is caused by thiamine deficiency and characterized by the triad of ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and confusion, with short-term memory loss. It typically begins with ataxia, followed in a few days or weeks by mental confusion. Additionally, there may be a simultaneous onset of ataxia, nystagmus, and ophthalmoplegia with or without confusion. Less often, 1 component of the triad may be the sole manifestation.¹ The incidence of … Continue reading >>

Published online before print February 2, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3023
AJNR 2012 33: E42

D. Friedman^a
aDepartment of Radiology
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Jefferson Medical College
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I read with interest the article titled “Interpretation Errors in CT Angiography of the Head and Neck and the Benefit of Double Reading” by Lian et al¹ in the December issue of the American Journal of Neuroradiology. I think that the analysis offered by the authors would be even more useful if they had provided the following additional information:

• 1) The phenomenon of “satisfaction of search” is known to

… Continue reading >>

Published online before print January 26, 2012, doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3001
AJNR 2012 33: E40-E41

J.K. Lempel^a
aDepartment of Radiology

B. Jozwik^b
bDepartment of Medicine

C. Manfredi^c
cDepartment of Medicine

A.C. Shih^d
dDepartment of Radiology
Norwalk Hospital
Norwalk, Connecticut

Cerebral air embolism is a rare but known complication resulting from intracardiac instrumentation. Although reports of atrioesophageal (AE) fistulas have been documented in clinical journals¹ and the cardiothoracic radiology literature,² there has been little focus on the neurologic manifestations and imaging findings of this entity. We report the case of an air embolism … Continue reading >>